Greener PCs by Google

Web search leader Google Inc and semiconductor maker Intel Corp have launched a broad-based programme to introduce more energy-efficient personal computers and server systems to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Called the "Climate Savers Computing Initiative," the new program has signed on computer makers Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM, Lenovo Group Ltd, software maker Microsoft Corp, the US Environmental Protection Agency and more than 25 environmental groups, companies and universities for the energy savings campaign.

The programme will set new efficiency goals for computers and software tools that manage power consumption. It comes at a time when Silicon Valley has made clean technology a priority as it seeks to play a greater role in reducing the harmful effects of climate change attributed to global warming.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have thrown capital behind numerous environmentally friendly ventures, including the installation of one of the largest solar energy systems to power their sprawling headquarters.

The programme requires a 90 per cent efficiency standard for power supplies, said Urs Holzle, senior vice president of operations at Google.

More efficient computing could trim the use of electricity that now is being wasted as heat, which in turn, especially in large server centers, requires more power for air conditioning.

"Today, the average desktop PC wastes nearly half of its power and the average server wastes one-third of its power," Holzle said.