Did anyone else read this article?

[Guest]

I'm talking about the fantastic article in I think PC Pro magazine, about
the amount of energy and pollution computers use and cause. I was really
shocked when I read that a modern PC outputs several tons of Co2 gas in a
5-year period! - how many PCs do you have in your home?!.

Then there's the wattage on machines sucking up energy (which when you think
about it, largely comes from Co2 emmitting energy producing activities), not
to mention all the formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, etc floating
around in our office environments caused in part by our computing needs and
pursuits.

Obviously computers aren't going away and so I wanted to just bring this to
the attention of those of you who care enough to make small changes with a
view to cutting down the levels of pollution in our offices, wider
environment and therefore the future of our global environment.

Easy steps to take are get plants - and loads of them - plants like spider
plants and bamboo palms, English Ivy and dracaena are all relative easy to
look after and thrive on the chemicals in the atmosphere in our offices
(that familiar inkjet smell, or the electrical smells associated with all
electrical equipment, but in particular PCs can be cleaned up by plants who
actually absorb the chemicals and use them as food).
Opening your window is only going to refine the chemicals in the long run in
the wider atmosphere and make it bad for everyone else including you, so be
a little be proactive, its not that hard.

Other things you could do is obviously switch your PCs off when you aren't
using them - or if you want them left on when you aren't there, at least
switch the monitor off (its only one button for goodness sake).

Another easy and amazing thing to note is those really nice LCD screens you
all want are actually way more energy efficient than traditional monitors,
so for by all means get one - they reduce the emissions of Co2 and they
reduce energy consumption too, which means you will save loads on your
electricity bill and so it will pay for itself in a few years - so treat
yourself (but recycle the old monitor by selling it on or donating it).
Overclocking remember uses more power and really - is it worth it? (check
your electricity bill after a year's overclocked usage and then read those
stats and weep).

Please think wisely about what I've said here - we have come so far with
computing in the grand scheme of things, lets not mess up the planet because
of a few tweaks we could all be doing here and there which, as habits for
the rest of computing lives, could have a big positive impact not only on
our planet, but to safeguard ourselves and our children and grandchildren
etc (think of pensions - you might be saving up for one because you need to
think about tomorrow, do the same for the planet).

Please at least try a few small things and if you have any influence try and
encourage others to do so to. Thanks for reading this far!

 

[kony]

I'm talking about the fantastic article in I think PC Pro magazine, about
the amount of energy and pollution computers use and cause. I was really
shocked when I read that a modern PC outputs several tons of Co2 gas in a
5-year period! - how many PCs do you have in your home?!.

What if we just seal them up with duct tape then?
Maybe if we put plants in the case?

Did the article factor in that people may be staying in and
working or browsing the internet instead of driving
somewhere in their cars? Did it factor that they might be
watching TV or listening to stereo or some other end that
uses electricity? I always love it when someone has an
audience and ignores the facts just to "have a job", get
paid for doing something worthless.

I'm not suggesting PCs dont' increase energy usage, but when
someone pulls numbers out of their ass with no consideration
for the larger picture, it's a waste of everyone's time not
to mention a space in a magazine that could be devoted to
something useful.

Then there's the wattage on machines sucking up energy (which when you think
about it, largely comes from Co2 emmitting energy producing activities), not
to mention all the formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, etc floating
around in our office environments caused in part by our computing needs and
pursuits.

So are you claiming there aren't any other products in the
office made of metal or plastic, etc, etc? It is completely
pointless to point at computers, rather than the
manufacturing practices of almost everything. It's not PCs,
it's manufacturers... making everything around you.

Obviously computers aren't going away and so I wanted to just bring this to
the attention of those of you who care enough to make small changes with a
view to cutting down the levels of pollution in our offices, wider
environment and therefore the future of our global environment.

Sounds more like a judgement than a solution. A waste of
time. You want OTHERS to make changes. Forget about it.
Get the wheel turning, find ways for manufacturers to
cost-effectively implement these things you want.

Easy steps to take are get plants - and loads of them - plants like spider
plants and bamboo palms, English Ivy and dracaena are all relative easy to
look after and thrive on the chemicals in the atmosphere in our offices
(that familiar inkjet smell, or the electrical smells associated with all
electrical equipment, but in particular PCs can be cleaned up by plants who
actually absorb the chemicals and use them as food).
Opening your window is only going to refine the chemicals in the long run in
the wider atmosphere and make it bad for everyone else including you, so be
a little be proactive, its not that hard.

You've gone mad. "Get plants" is a stupid idea. Crack a
window if you're really running out of oxygen and
overwhelmed by CO2. Houseplants are trivial compared to the
desrtruction of forests, even the cutting of lawns... simply
not cutting your lawn for 2 extra days would FAR outweigh
any effects of having tons of plants inside.

Other things you could do is obviously switch your PCs off when you aren't
using them - or if you want them left on when you aren't there, at least
switch the monitor off (its only one button for goodness sake).

Nope, not so simple. Thermal cycling will wear out a system
sooner... more frequent replacement means more pollution in
manufacturing and distribution. Turning off a monitor is a
waste of time, relative to setting it up correclty so that
it blanks out after short interval and then turns ITSELF
off. It is never a solution to suggest that people
continually make extra effort, because they won't! Instead
you must provide an automatic, automated way.

Another easy and amazing thing to note is those really nice LCD screens you
all want are actually way more energy efficient than traditional monitors,
so for by all means get one - they reduce the emissions of Co2 and they
reduce energy consumption too, which means you will save loads on your
electricity bill and so it will pay for itself in a few years - so treat
yourself (but recycle the old monitor by selling it on or donating it).

So instead of using the CRT, you buy an LCD and use it, then
donate the CRT to someone ELSE who uses it... so, now two
monitors are using electricity instead of one. Must be the
new math if that saves energy. What if someone uses a 19"
CRT instead of watching a 32" TV set? Isn't it then saving
energy?

And no, you do not "save loads" on your electic bill, unless
you live in a hut with no heat or AC or lights or
refrigeration, etc, etc, etc. In fact, by merely switching
to fluorescent lights in a couple of rooms, most people cut
down power usage by far more than with what you suggest.
Even so, to refer back to what I mentioned above, it has to
be automated, not a "we're supposed to keep repetitively
doing something because YOU think we should".

You're using energy right now? To post this?
Shouldn't you turn off the system and not use it if that's a
concern?

Overclocking remember uses more power and really - is it worth it? (check
your electricity bill after a year's overclocked usage and then read those
stats and weep).

Overclocking often causes a trivial difference, and if the
system NEEDS more performance, overclocking can reduce
energy usage. Amazing but true!

When a system take longer to do a job, you need more parts
active, at full power, maybe monitor is still on, etc, etc.
When a job finishes sooner, when you're more productive, you
are done and system can go to sleep, drives spin down sooner
and monitor can go into power-saving mode, etc.

Overclocking is a minor increase in energy usage relative to
the performance gain. If one doesn't need that performance,
the issue isn't necessarily overclocking but the platform
they're using. Are they running a Via Eden or similar? Did
they choose the slowest CPU their motherboard will accept
and/or underclock the busses and lower the voltages? Same
thing! If you posted this message using anything faster or
more power hungry than a Via Eden ~ 700MHz, you are wasting
power, IF you believe what you've written.

Please think wisely about what I've said here - we have come so far with
computing in the grand scheme of things, lets not mess up the planet because
of a few tweaks we could all be doing here and there which, as habits for
the rest of computing lives, could have a big positive impact not only on
our planet, but to safeguard ourselves and our children and grandchildren
etc (think of pensions - you might be saving up for one because you need to
think about tomorrow, do the same for the planet).

Please at least try a few small things and if you have any influence try and
encourage others to do so to. Thanks for reading this far!

Of all the things messing up the planet, the differences
betweeen the typical usage of computers and what you suggest
are trivial. Someday when 99.99% of all other factors are
dealt with it might be more of a concern. Until then, your
efforts would be better spent encouraging others to develop
cleaner sources of energy.... and maybe convincing Intel to
stop changing the @#$% platform every 2.5 years.

You probably think I'm against conserving power. Nope, I
just recognize that a system using 200W at full load and
usually far lower than that is a small slice of the energy
usage, and focusing attention on these minor things instead
of major ones will only allow things to get worse. Of all
the ways we waste energy or could reduce energy usage,
computers are so far down on the list that there's not much
point in focusing on 'em.... and by focusing on them you
become part of the problem. The time must be spent dealing
with the worst offenders first, else being off the computer
and/or those minor savings-suggestins don't solve anything.

 

[John Smith]

How come your computer is on? I'd be willing to bet that you are also
overweight and eat fast food at least once a day..get some facts.

 

[CBFalconer]

I'm talking about the fantastic article in I think PC Pro magazine,
about the amount of energy and pollution computers use and cause. I
was really shocked when I read that a modern PC outputs several
tons of Co2 gas in a 5-year period! - how many PCs do you have in
your home?!.

Try starting by getting the facts. Measure your household
consumption. You can do this by using a stopwatch, some known
loads, and spending some time watching your kwh meter spin. You
just need to be sure refrigerators, furnaces, air conditioners etc.
don't kick off during the measurement period.

Hint: RPM of the meter wheel is proportional to wattage consumed.

 

[Max]

My ass outputs several tons of CO2 each year, so I'm not surprised.

-Max

 

[philo]

I'm talking about the fantastic article in I think PC Pro magazine, about
the amount of energy and pollution computers use and cause. I was really
shocked when I read that a modern PC outputs several tons of Co2 gas in a
5-year period! - how many PCs do you have in your home?!.

<snip>

several tons of Co2???
no wonder the floors in my house are sagging

anyway...i recently did a power check on a P-III machine i was working on...
and it only drew about 50 -60 watts while idle...and perhaps double that
under full cpu usage.
although i of course agree with energy conservation
and turn my machines off if they will not be used for a long time...
computers are hardly big energy wasters

 

[JTJersey]

Ever been to Atlantic City? Talk about electric useage! Sheez!

 

[xcaliber]

Anonymouswrote:
I'm talking about the fantastic article in I think PC Pro magazine,
about

the amount of energy and pollution computers use and cause. I was really
shocked when I read that a modern PC outputs several tons of Co2 gas in a
5-year period! - how many PCs do you have in your home?!.

Then there's the wattage on machines sucking up energy (which when you think
about it, largely comes from Co2 emmitting energy producing activities), not
to mention all the formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, etc floating
around in our office environments caused in part by our computing needs and
pursuits.

Obviously computers aren't going away and so I wanted to just bring this to
the attention of those of you who care enough to make small changes with a
view to cutting down the levels of pollution in our offices, wider
environment and therefore the future of our global environment.

Easy steps to take are get plants - and loads of them - plants like spider
plants and bamboo palms, English Ivy and dracaena are all relative easy to
look after and thrive on the chemicals in the atmosphere in our offices
(that familiar inkjet smell, or the electrical smells associated with all
electrical equipment, but in particular PCs can be cleaned up by plants who
actually absorb the chemicals and use them as food).
Opening your window is only going to refine the chemicals in the long run in
the wider atmosphere and make it bad for everyone else including you, so be
a little be proactive, its not that hard.

Other things you could do is obviously switch your PCs off when you aren't
using them - or if you want them left on when you aren't there, at least
switch the monitor off (its only one button for goodness sake).

Another easy and amazing thing to note is those really nice LCD screens you
all want are actually way more energy efficient than traditional monitors,
so for by all means get one - they reduce the emissions of Co2 and they
reduce energy consumption too, which means you will save loads on your
electricity bill and so it will pay for itself in a few years - so treat
yourself (but recycle the old monitor by selling it on or donating it).
Overclocking remember uses more power and really - is it worth it? (check
your electricity bill after a year's overclocked usage and then read those
stats and weep).

Please think wisely about what I've said here - we have come so far with
computing in the grand scheme of things, lets not mess up the planet because
of a few tweaks we could all be doing here and there which, as habits for
the rest of computing lives, could have a big positive impact not only on
our planet, but to safeguard ourselves and our children and grandchildren
etc (think of pensions - you might be saving up for one because you need to
think about tomorrow, do the same for the planet).

Please at least try a few small things and if you have any influence try and
encourage others to do so to. Thanks for reading this far!

In the time it takes you to write and everyone else to read this
pointless and monotonous article how much power has been wasted by
your pc and everyones pc? Multiply that by the number of other
people in the world that fill up forums with pointless posts like
that and boom....youve got the answer to pollution and energy
conservation. yes i am def for energy conservation and preserving the
environment but right now there are alot bigger worries in this world
than whether or not little johnny overclocks their computer or not.
that little thing called world hunger....or how bout how the hell
we're gonna switch from a petrolium based society to a non-petrolium
based society considering the keyboard im typing on right now relies
on petrolium to exist. the contacts im wearing to see to type this
article...the case that makes up your monitor so you can read this
post....it keeps going. so when someone devotes as much time as that
to write about computer pollution and blow somthing out of proportion
so far all i have to say is in the near future you wont have to worry
about computer pollution because soon one of the raw materials we
need to make these polluting monsters spew their toxic fumes onto the
world (heavy on the sarcasim :wink: ) wont exist.


xcaliber


knowledge, culture and understanding

 

[Tal Fuchs]

Ya, I read the article.
Computers do consume energy while working, even in idle mode. So? .....
Airconditioners consume much more, and I bet you will turn it on in hot
days. I'm also sure you won't sit in the dark at evening time.
Did you sell all your TVs already ????


Tal

 

[owner]

Sorry - but PC's neither use nor emit any gasses at all. Your magazine
author is very, very mistaken. They do produce heat,
which may not be a bad thing. As for the emissions of fumes from the
manufacturing process, that's something else. But rest
easy about the CO2. Ain't none.

 

[Jonni]

Sorry - but PC's neither use nor emit any gasses at all. Your magazine
author is very, very mistaken. They do produce heat,
which may not be a bad thing. As for the emissions of fumes from the
manufacturing process, that's something else. But rest
easy about the CO2. Ain't none.

They do emit some gases . Not huge amounts. The boards contains PCB's
whci are very poisonous. Heat makes them boil of slowly I'm told...

Read this though and you'll fear what happens after rather than now

http://www.detoxamin.com/index.asp?pgid=1629