Saving the Planet, One PC at a Time

Not a day goes by without new stories on the dangers of climate change, escalating energy costs, threats to fuel supply security and the need to limit our carbon footprint. And the harsh reality is that, whether as a result of legislation and pressure from governments, a genuine desire to limit the impact we have on the planet or the need to keep spending down in today’s economic climate, reducing energy consumption is high on the agenda for consumers and industry alike.

Which is why power consumption should be added to speed, storage, memory, connectivity, graphics capability and all the other essential selection criteria that you take into account when specifying your next PC.

Fortunately today’s PC manufacturers are taking the issue of energy efficiency seriously by identifying processors, memories and other components that minimise power consumption, choosing power supply units (PSUs) that minimise heat loss and power dissipation (which in turn supports the elimination of power-hungry fans) and increasing the use of low-power solid state storage. The latest Fit-PC family of ultra-compact computers, for example, has a model that consumes only 15 watts under full system load, falling to just 7 watts when idling. Compare this to a standard desktop PC, which typically requires well over 100 watts, and its easy to see how quickly the energy and cost savings and the carbon dioxide reductions could soon add up.