The Australian Department of Climate Change advises that a laptop computer used for 5 hours each day generates around 40 kilograms of greenhouse gas each year.

Desktop computers used for the same amount of time can generate between 200 and 500 kilograms green house gases – approx. half of this from the monitor.

During average computing, a system may consume approximately 240W of power at a cost of 3.7 cents per hour, but when playing a 3D game for several hours, the power usage peaks upwards to approx. 600W of total power at a cost of 9.3 cents per hour (based on current Origin Energy household supply rates).This translates to  $675.25 per annum for average computing, peaking to a staggering $1697.25 at high usage rates.

With a little human ingenuity it should not be hard to reduce the energy consumed by computers substantially.

The solution is a combination of hardware, software, humanware and carbon offsets:

Hardware:

The single most important component for regulating power consumption in any computer is the power supply unit (PSU). A poor quality PSU will not only increase power consumption significantly, it will also greatly reduce the life span of a system and may cause instability. By contrast, a high quality PSU with an Energy Star ‘80 plus certified’ rating will help to reduce power consumption, improve overall performance and reliability, and can also help reduce the noise and heat generated by a computer system.

Manufacturers of computer CPUs are working hard to produce low energy consumption products that will be less harmful to the environment. Leading the way by several lengths is VIA with their MM3500 series motherboards with integrated Via CPU, consuming just 20 watts at peak power and an incredible 1 watt on idle. The manufacturing process is also carbon neutral as the company invests in carbon offsets.

AMD have not shirked the challenge with their new range of 45 watt AM2 desktop CPUs, but Intel is trailing in the power consumption stakes as their Core 2 Duo Desktop CPUs consume approx. 60 watts of power, which is the equivalent of a standard light bulb. However, the Intel Centrino Duo range of laptop CPUs consume just 35 watts, making them ultra energy efficient.

High end video cards can consume up to 200 watts for a high end gaming card, but mid-range video cards only use about 60 watts. AMD ATI have developed cards that are twice as energy efficient as previous generations.

Making the right consumer choices when purchasing computer hardware can significantly reduce your energy consumption. All Paul Computers desktop PCs are supplied with Antec ‘80 plus certified’ power supplies. Our Eco Essentials 1 Desktop system is one of the most energy efficient computers on the planet and each component in all our systems is selected to maximise energy efficiency.

Software:

All versions of Microsoft Windows have power management features that can be accessed by via the Power Options in Control Panel or right mouse click in a blank area of the desktop and select Options in Windows XP or Personalise in Windows Vista.

In Windows XP select Screensaver and turn off the screen saver is this is a complete waste of processing power. Then select Power options in the same window. I recommend that you set the monitor and hard disk drives to turn off after 15 minutes of idle time and set the computer to go into hibernation after 30 minutes.

In Windows Vista, select Screensaver and turn it off. Then select ‘change power options’ in the same Window and select the Balanced Option (power saver mode seems to over throttle the CPU). Then select ‘Change Plan Settings’ and set the monitor to turn off after 15 minutes and the PC to hibernate after 30 minutes

If supported by your motherboard, you can also set the PC BIOS to store current system memory in the RAM rather than the hard disk drive for faster recovery from hibernation.

These are the standard settings we use for all our PCs.