Environmentally-Friendly Computing: Optimizing Power Consumption

The following table shows values for power consumption of everyday computing:

As the table demonstrates, simply shutting a computer off significantly reduces the amount of power necessary to sustain a computer. Although this fact may be completely obvious to most users, computers are often left powered on around the clock. This wastes countless amounts of energy, and, as a result, indirectly places a substantial burden on the environment that could be avoided by applying more environmentally-friendly computing practices.


This table shows the previously discussed wattages applied over time:

Aside from benefiting the environment, green computing can also benefit the personal computer user's wallet. The 2006 average price of electricity in the United States was 10.4 cents per kilowatt hour². At this rate, desktop users can save an average of about 72 dollars, and laptop users can save about 20 dollars per year. 

Windows Vista allows users to customize power options or even create custom power plans in order to use less electricity when possible. Apple's Macintosh OS X also incorporates features such as Energy Saver, which allows users customize energy usage settings and even create schedules for powering the computer off or putting the computer to sleep.


¹ Referenced from www.greenercomputing.com
² Referenced from www.eia.doe.gov