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The consumer magazine Choice has called for the Energy Star rating system used for whitegoods in Australia to be extended to personal computers and computer products. This would include games consoles such as the Sony Playstation 3 after Choice discovered a PS3 can burn up to five times more energy than a medium-sized refrigerator.
Its tests found a Playstation 3, switched on but not in use, could cost almost A$250 a year in electrical bills, whereas a fridge would cost less than $50 a year.
Plasma television sets were among the top energy guzzlers, consuming more than four times as much energy as a traditional analogue set.
Choice said the average desktop PC, tested independently of its monitor, was third on the list of top energy consumers. But an Apple iMac, an all-in-one model with a built-in display, used just two-thirds of the energy consumed by a monitor-less PC.
FOOTNOTE: Australia’s Energy Star system does provide for awarding the star to computers that meet certain standards – including blanking the screen after 15 idle minutes – but does not give comparative star ratings, refrigerator-style, for energy consumption.
Meanwhile Telstra says it has reduced its energy consumption by the equivalent of 646 tonnes of CO2 annually by switching off screensavers on 36,000 PCs
Corporate screensavers were removed from all Windows XP employee laptops and desktops at midnight on Monday, and replaced with a black screen.
Telstra property director Vito Chiodo said: “Previously Telstra’s multi-coloured screensaver was used to share our corporate messages. By replacing this with a black screensaver we are sending a strong environmental message to our staff that we are listening to their suggestions for ways to save energy.”
The telco says it also saves energy by using video-conferences rather than face-to-face meetings where possible – 7500 in 2007; and by operating 10,693 solar-powered sites, including exchanges, radio terminals, small repeater stations and pay phones.
