Computer power management saves money, helps environment

If all college students in the United States used power-saving features on their computers, they could save 2.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to taking 50,000 cars off the road, said Barbara Grimes, a representative of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. \nThe Climate Savers Computing Initiative formed in 2007 to raise awareness about excessive computer-power consumption. The organization, led by a group of tech industry heavyweights including Dell, Microsoft and IBM, set a goal of cutting computer-power consumption in half by 2010.\n“Our goal is to make people realize how much energy is used by leaving their computers on,” said Kristin Blodgette, a representative of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. “People turn their lights off when leaving the house to save energy, so why leave your computer on?”\nCutting computer-power consumption in half by 2010 would prevent the emission of 54 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. This would cut emissions of greenhouse gas drastically, equal to taking 11 million cars off the road.\nThe organization recommends students begin by turning on their computer’s power-saving features. These features put the computer into a “sleep” mode when not in use to reduce wasted energy. Sleep mode is an alternative to the screen saver, which actually uses more energy than leaving a computer running, Blodgette said.\n“Power-management features are available on all computers, and all it takes to turn them on is a few clicks,” Blodgette said. “There really is no reason people should not have these on.”\nDespite all computers containing power-saving features, more than 90 percent of consumers are not using them, Blodgette said. \nA recent survey conducted by Harris International concluded that among U.S. adults over the age of 18, only 42 percent used power-management functions for their computers. However, another survey revealed 40 percent incorrectly identified power management.\nThe survey also noted that 16 percent of those interviewed were unaware their computers even had the power-saving functions.\n“It’s a problem with awareness for the students,” junior Andrew Wilburn said. “A lot of us just leave things like the TV and the computer on all the time and don’t really think about it having a negative effect.”\nThe Climate Savers Computing Initiative also recommends unplugging computers from the wall when they’re not in use and buying an energy efficient computer with the Energy Star 4.0 sticker on it. Computers with the Energy Star 4.0 sticker use 20 to 50 percent less energy, Blodgette said.\n“People think because their energy bills are low that they don’t need to turn their computer off,” Grimes said. “They aren’t thinking of the number of people who use computers; if all computer owners did (turn off their computers), a lot could be gained.”