PC Energy Report: Shutting Down Your Work PC Makes a Big Energy Impact

According to a recent survey released by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy, nearly half of all corporate PCs in the United States are not regularly switched off at night. This means a conservative estimate of 31.2 million work PCs are being left on overnight; wasting energy, putting carbon emissions into the air, and costing US businesses $1.72 billion to supply power to machines that are not even in use.

All these PCs being left on overnight is also pumping 14.4 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. According to recently released PC Energy Awareness report, preventing that amount of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere would have roughly the same impact as taking 2.58 million passenger cars entirely off the road—more cars than exist in the entire State of Maryland (2.48 million cars).

The recent report combines statistics on energy usage and CO2 emissions, alongside research on behavior in the American workplace—such as whether employees are turning their PCs off at the end of the day (why or why not).

1E, a provider of power management software, and the Alliance to Save Energy, a coalition of businesses, government, environmental and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy around the world, commissioned the survey with market research firm Harris Interactive, to examine PC power usage in the American workplace.

For more information, check out the 1E Energy Awareness Campaign Web site.