Climate Savers computing initiative - A great start
Google, Intel and a bunch of other companies have launched the climate savers computing initiative . The main goal of the program is to enhance the power efficiency of PSU’s in desktops and servers to a level of up-to 90-95% and to promote the use of power efficient computing in general . The website states their mission as
By 2010, we seek to reduce global CO2 emissions from the operation of computers by 54 million tons per year, equivalent to the annual output of 11 million cars or 10–20 coal-fired power plants. With your help, this effort will lead to a 50% reduction in power consumption by computers by 2010, and committed participants could collectively save $5.5 billion in energy costs.
While this is a great initiative, making computers more power efficient does make them cost more and the figure ranges from $20 for desktops and $30 for servers , but in the long term it does result in smaller power bills .Except for hardcore enthusiasts no one really cares about what kind of PSU they have, the least we could do is to see that they comply to the latest energy star specifications.
The climate savers Website has some great facts about your PSU and how much energy does it actually waste . Read more about it here.
Visit the site