Powering down the PC
The EPA's new list of Energy Star-compliant computers comes out today, and PC makers have even set their sights on far exceeding the federal standards. Good news for the environment, not to mention all the money we'll save, Helen Palmer reports.
Rows of computers are set up for the 2005 World Cyber Games competition in Singapore. (Stephen Chernin (c) Getty Images)
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Lisa Napoli: Today the EPA releases the list of PCs that meet its new, more stringent guidelines. Helen Palmer reports from WGBH in Boston on these green computers.
Helen Palmer: To earn the EPA's energy star ratings, new computers will need to be at least 65 percent more efficient than the previous generation.
Maria Vargas: The new computer specification is expected to save consumers and businesses in this country more than $1.8 billion in energy costs over the next five years.
The EPA's Maria Vargas says this will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 2.7 million cars.
The computer industry's set up its own energy-saving group, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Spokesman Bill Calder of chip maker Intel says the focus is on more efficiency everywhere.
Bill Calder: With our newest core micro-architecture, we got twice the performance of our previous chips, but at 40 percent lower processor power.
Calder says the industry's goals go beyond the EPA's. They plan computers with power supplies that are 90 percent energy efficient by the end of the decade.
In Boston, I'm Helen Palmer for Marketplace.
