Most people are unaware just how many kilowatt hours their computers burn and how many pounds of CO2 they help pump into the atmosphere. Interested in learning about this, there is no better place to start than Michael BlueJay's Saving Electricity site.
Reducing energy use when you turn on your computer looks like it is going to get much, much easier. Yesterday, Climate Savers smart computing was announced at the Google campus. This initiative targets a 50% reduction in computer electricity usage by 2010.
I want to be clear ... this could be BIG ...
From the press release
Intel Corporation and Google Inc. joined with Dell, EDS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, PG&E, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and more than 25 additional organizations today announced the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (www.climatesaverscomputing.org). The goal of the new broad-based environmental effort is to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting aggressive new targets for energy-efficient computers and components, and promoting the adoption of energy-efficient computers and power management tools worldwide.
"Today, the average desktop PC wastes nearly half of its power, and the average server wastes one-third of its power," said Urs Hölzle, senior vice president, Operations; Google Fellow. "The Climate Savers Computing Initiative is setting a new 90 percent efficiency target for power supplies, which if achieved, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million tons per year -- and save more than $5.5 billion in energy costs.
Want to calculate the watts burning here?
Thinking about today's computing ...
Want to learn a bit about your computer's power impact, again, I point you to Michael BlueJay, in this case his computers section.
let's say you have a big high-end computer with a gaming-level graphics card and CRT monitor, and you leave them on 24/7. That's about 330 watts x 24 hours x 365 days/yr = 2,890,800 watt-hours, or 2891 kilowatt-hours. If you're paying $0.14 per kWh, you're paying $405 a year to run your computer.
Now, 14 cents is more than most Americans pay, but at the average of $.095, that is still $274.65. Oh, yes, that is after tax money for most of us.
Let's try a different example: You have a computer that's less of an energy hog, like in iMac G5 20", which uses about 105 watts, and you're smart enough to turn it off when you're not using it. You use it for two hours a day, five days a week. That's ten hours a week, or 520 hours a year. So your 105 watts times 520 hours = 54,600 watt-hours. Divide by 1000 and you have 55 kilowatt-hours (kWh). If you're paying 10¢ per kilowatt-hour, then you're paying $5.50 a year to run your computer.
Pootie blogs responsibly, with power efficent computer.
You know, another reason to be a Mac addict. This example provides a good example of holistic: the combination of usage/purpose (what do you want to do? why do you want power?); usage patterns (leave it on or turn it off); and overall power efficiency (a big difference between 330 and 105 watts).
Pup ensures that computer is off while it's no longer in use.
Usage choices have a real impact. Hint: turn your computers off when you're not using them. And, no, this doesn't use more power. As Bluejay comments: "It's a myth that it takes more energy to start a computer than to keep it running. It doesn't. You'll always save energy by turning your computer off when you're not using it."
Back to the Initiative
The initiative is promising tools to help users reduce electricity use. And, they make the case for investing to cut that electricity use by 50 percent ...
Even at modestly higher prices (about $30 per system), more efficient computers will pay for themselves in reduced energy costs. It’s a win-win situation for you and for the environment.
For example, a savings of just 20–30 watts in power consumption translates to a savings of $7.20 per year in direct energy costs at a price of $0.12/kWh for electricity. In an air-conditioned home, the total savings increases to approximately $10/year, which means the high-efficiency system will pay for itself in 2–3 years. Systems that remain turned on all the time typically pay for themselves within the first year of use. ...
Reducing the power consumption of PCs and servers has secondary benefits throughout the larger community. It reduces electrical and air-conditioning loads in office buildings, data centers and homes, thus reducing the strain on regional generation facilities and the electrical grid. Last but not least, it reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Climate Savers smart computing initiative looks like a serious effort to provide a path toward more energy efficient, greener computing ... A path toward greener blogging ...
Now let's be clear ... cleaning up computing won't solve the world's problems ... but, this is a part of the critical critical Silver BB of energy efficiency (or, as Chapter1 eloquently discussed, Golden Bullet) ... and it is another stepping point in the American (and world's) economy's move toward a sustainable future.
Initiatives like this are part of the approach to Energize America toward a sustainable and prosperous energy future. We must pursue a holistic approach to energy issues, working to develop new (non-polluting) energy sources, pursue as energy efficiency as possible, and consider changed usage patterns. Combining all of these will provide a path toward a more prosperous future and increase our chances of mitigating Global Warming impacts, laying the ground for a sustainable future.
Ask yourself: Are you doing your part to ENERGIZE AMERICA?
NOTES
- Version posted yesterday at Ecotality. For additional interesting commentary there, see Green Giants and for some of the news reporting.
- Consider joining the new, improved Daily Kos Environmentalists community / listserve.
- Are you coming to Yearly Kos? There will be an EA2020 panel Saturday morning along with a session on using the blogsphere for policy development. And, an Energize America tour of Green Chicago Sunday afternoon (we hope)
- And ... of course, ENERGIZE AMERICA.