Savings
Power Demand
With 24/7 broadband, the always-available culture, 'instant' this and 'always-on’ that, we have a load of gizmos and gadgets at home and at work and we seem to have forgotten how to use the ‘off’ button. Computers and computer peripherals are some of the biggest offenders being left on in homes, offices and schools all day and night.
So What?
A typical mid-range office workstation comprising a PC and a monitor uses 200 Watts of electricity when switched on. According to research conducted by the computer manufacturer, Dell, over 90% of corporate PCs are left on all the time. The pattern is repeated in schools and public sector organisations throughout the UK. Leaving a single PC consuming 200W on all the time consumes nearly £200 of electricity a year and is responsible for half a tonne of CO2 emissions.
If you only needed a 200W business computer 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, switching it off for the other 118 hours a week would save you around £135 a year and reduce CO2 emissions by half a tonne and that’s for each computer. A diesel Peugeot 407 Saloon 1.6 HDi FAP car driven 10,000 miles in a year emits 2.2 tonnes: leaving four corporate PCs switched on when not needed results in the same level of CO2 emissions.
The Bigger Picture
Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, announced in April 2007 that ICT is responsible for 2% of the world’s emissions of the principle greenhouse gas, CO2 – roughly equivalent to that of the airline industry. Further, 40% of those emissions come from PCs and monitors.
According to WWF, unless we stop average global temperatures from rising more than 2°C above the level recorded in pre-industrial times, we face a high risk of severe and irreversible changes in the planet’s natural systems. The consequences of changing weather patterns, warming seas and melting ice will be devastating for people and nature. To stay below 2°C, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak within the next 10 years and then fall by at least 80% by 2050.
What can you do?
The best solution would be to switch equipment off when not needed – the problem is that most people don’t. There are many reasons why equipment is not switched off; lack of knowledge, lack of awareness and lack of accountability to name but a few. In the mid to longer term, education, incentive, disciplinary action or a combination of all three may lead to an attitudinal shift; in the meantime however, PC Power Down offers a technological solution.
PC Power Down, automatically powers down computers and peripherals when not needed to eliminate wasted electricity consumption and associated emissions.
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