PC Energy Report 2009: United States, United Kingdom and Germany
PC Energy Report 2009: United States, United Kingdom and Germany
Every day 156 million employees in the US, UK and Germany make a decision at the end of their work days to power down their PCs or not.
A majority of workers in the US, UK and Germany regularly use a PC to do their jobs.
74% United States; 108 million employees
78% United Kingdom; 17 million employees
79% Germany: 31 million employees
More Power, More Money.
According to a separate survey conducted in October 2008, 505 of employed adults in the US who use a PC at work don't typically shut down their PCs at the end of the work day.
Based on these findings, we can assume that companies across the US are wasting $2.8 billion and emitting 20 million tons of carbon dioxide to power PCs that aren't shut down. This figure is based on a conservative estimate of 14.5 hours for the overnight period and 48 hours on the weekend. Under this scenario, a single US company with 10,000 PCs wastes more than $260,000 annually and generates 1,871 tones of Co2 emissions.
Empowered to Power Down
European users have been found to be marginally better.
56% of employees in the UK and Germany always shut down their machines, however, many do not, creating significant expense for their employers. In the UK and Germany, 285,000 Euros and 168,000 Pounds are wasted each year, respectively, by a company with 10,000 PC's.
Powering Down at Home
The September survey reveals that a vast majority of employed adults who use a PC at work also do so at home (97% US, 96% UK, 97% Germany).
More people power down their PCs at home than at work - People in the UK (78%) and Germany (78%) are more likely than in the US (63%) to always power down their home PC.
To SHUT Down or To Power Down?
Shutting down and powering down aren't the same. Here's how they differ:
Shut Down:
Turns off all power to your computer
Cuts off an employee's remote access
Sleep / Hibernate
Other terms include "power down" or "suspend"
Greatly reduces energy consumption without cutting off an employee's remote access
Is not a screen saverin fact, complex screen savers actually can increase energy consumption
Power Scheme Settings
Used while a machine is running during the day (e.g. screen shut -down after five minutes of inactivity
Confused about Powering down?
If you don't know about your PC's power settings, you're not alone. Data collected between September and October 2008 re-vealed that more than one-third of employees in the UK (38%), 32% of US employees and 17% of German employees who use a PC at work said they either have no idea what power scheme settings are, or how to change the power settings on their PCs.
Not Powering Down Is a Big Deal
If all of the world's 1 billion PCs were powered down for just one night, it would save enough energy to light up new york City's empire State buildinginside and outfor more than 30 years.
A look at Employee Behavior
Always-on PCs are costing organizations money and causing carbon to be emitted into the atmosphere. The September survey examined why users do and don't power down.
Why Employees Power Down
Which of the following, if any, is the primary reason why you power down your PC when you have finished working for the day?
1. to enable the proper functioning of my PC
US: 21% UK: 11% Germany: 11%
2. It's company or IT policy to power down
US: 19% UK: 19% Germany: 20%
3. To ensure the security of my files
US: 17% UK: 14% Germany: 17%
4. Tp reduce my company's electicity bill
US: 11% UK: 12% Germany: 18%
5. To Help the environment
US: 10% UK: 27% Germany: 17%
6. I have a laptop and I power down to take it home with me
US: 9% UK: 9% Germany: 7%
7. My boss told me to:
US: 3% UK: 2% Germany: 2%
8. Other:
US: 10% UK: 7% Germany: 8%
Employees in the UK are the most idealistic27% say they power down PCs to help the environment. German employees are most conscious of saving their employer's money, with 18% saying they power down to reduce their company's electricity bill. US employees say they power down to make sure their PCs work properly and to comply with company policy. The table above suggests that the workers in the US and UK are not interested in saving their employers money, so organizations need to take the initiative to generate savings.
Why Employees Leave PCs on All Night
Which of the following, if any, is the primary reason why you don't always power down your PC when you have finished working for the day?
1. Other people use it
US: 19% UK: 19% Germany: 22%
2. My computer automatically goes into hibernation or sleep mode
US: 18% UK: 18% Germany: 16%
3. Takes too long9
US: 14% UK: 13% Germany: 18%
4. I forget
US: 13% UK: 13% Germany: 8%
5. To enable overnight software updates from the main server
US: 9% UK: 10% Germany: 7%
6. It's company or IT policy to leave it on
US: 9% UK: 9% Germany: 6%
7. I access my PC remotely
US: 4% UK: 2% Germany: 4%
8. Other
US:13% UK: 16% Germany: 19%
Almost half of employees in each country surveyed (49% in the US, 48% in the UK, and 43% in Germany) said answer nos. 3 to 7 were the reasons why they left PCs on. Changing employee behavior is one way to avoid the problems of leaving machines powered on all night, however, power management software is another method that organizations can employ to eliminate these excuses.
The Company's role in Power Consumption
Across all three countries in the September poll, most employed adults who use a PC at work believe that their employers should be doing more to reduce power consumptionsuggesting that power management initiatives would be welcomed by employees.
A majority of workers feel their companies should be doing more to reduce their power consumption (63% in the US, 67% in the UK, and 58% in Germany).
Those in the UK (30%) are more likely than those in the US (24%) and Germany (22%) to believe their companies should be doing much more.
Very few people power down their PC because their bosses told them toamong employed adults who at least some-times power down their PCs , a mere 3% in the US and 2% in the UK and Germany indicated that they do so primarily be-cause their boss told them toshowing clear opportunity for leaders to set policy. across all three countries in the September poll, most employed adults who use a PC at work believe that their employers should be doing more to reduce power consumptionsuggesting that power management initiatives would be welcomed by employees.
"desktop power management is one of the most effective technologies that businesses can use to improve the environmental footprint of their it. it isn't expensive or disruptive, and it provides a rapid and strong return on investment. in most cases, its introduction results in an immediate and sustained reduction in energy use by corporate it." - Andy Lawrence, research director, Eco-Efficient it, the 451 group, november 2008.
PC Proliferation
Mature markets such as the United States, western europe and Japan currently account for 58 percent of the world's installed PCs, but these markets only ac-count for 15 percent of the world's population. we expect per capita PC penetra-tion in emerging markets to double by 2013." Gartner, June 2008.
Every year, the information and telecommunications technology industry generates 2% of the world's carbon emissionsthat's the same as a year's worth of air traffic. PCs and monitors account for 39% of these emissions11, which is equal to a full year of CO2 emissions from approximately 43.9 million cars.12Unless we make PCs substantially more energy efficient, this number surely will rise because more people are using PCs. According to Gartner Research, there are more than 1 billion PCs in use worldwide, but by 2014, this number is expected to exceed 2 billion.
The Financial Context of Energy Savings
By 2030 the price of electricity will rise 700% from where it was forty years ago.
High Energy, High Cost.
Government estimates predict that by 2030, electricity pric-es will rise by as much as 35 percent.13 As this cost esca-lates, organizations and consumers are on the lookout for ways to reduce consumption. At the same time, government programs around the world are encouragingand sometimes requiringbusinesses to become more energy efficient.
Cost of Electricity in the United States
1970 = $0.017
2030 = $0.142
Today's average electricity Costs by Survey Country
United States = 10.2 cents
United Kingdom = 0.12 p
Germany = 19.46 Euro Cents
Incentives to Save
Governments, non-governmental organizations and utility companies around the world are working to combat growing energy consumption by helping people save energy when they use their PCs. Here are a few examples.
United States: All federal agencies are required to purchase energy-efficient products and activate power management settings on their computers.Washington and Texas have enacted state legislation that re-quires a power management plan to power down state agen-cy PCs.Several states, including Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota and Kansas, are part of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, an organization dedicated to improving the power efficiency of computers.
EU: The EU has set a target of 20-40% improvement in energy ef-ficiency by 2020.16 Other European initiatives include:In Germany, there are rebates or tax breaks for companies that are conserving energy and/or PC power. Also in Germany, a new database connects companies to Ger-man-made, energy-efficient services and products as part of a government initiative to help companies buy energy-effi-cient products.In the UK, the Market Transformation Programme (MTP) is the government's main initiative on reducing energy consumption in appliances. It supports the development and implementa-tion of policy on sustainable products and collects information on how energy (such as that consumed by PCs) is used.
THE POWER OF POWERING DOWN
Gartner estimates that a company with 2,500 PCs and a power management system uses 91,203 kWh per year. But without a power management system to control their company's PC energy use, that figure jumps up to 988,026 kWh. This costs an extra $92,372 per year, at the US average power price of 10.3 cents an hour.
About the Surveys
The October US Survey:
This PC Usage survey was conducted online within the Unit-ed States by Harris Interactive on behalf of 1E between Oc-tober 15 and October 17, 2008 among 2,631 adults aged 18+, of whom, 1,717 are employed and 1,418 use a PC for work purposes at their job.
The September US, UK, Germany Survey:
This PC Usage survey was conducted online within the Unit-ed States, UK (excluding Northern Ireland,) and Germany by Harris Interactive on behalf of 1E between September 4 and September 8, 2008 among 2,112 US adults aged 18+, of whom, 1,258 are employed and 942 use a PC for work purpos-es at their job; between September 3 and September 12, 2008 among 2,021 British adults aged16+, of whom, 1,273 are em-ployed and 1,036 use a PC for work purposes at their job; and, between September 3 and September 12, 2008 among 2,028 German adults aged 16+, of whom, 1,432 are employed and 1,137 use a PC for work purposes at their job.
These online surveys are not based on probability samples and there-fore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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