Eco-Friendly Batteries for Your Electronics

We offer a great selection of eco-friendly batteries, including offerings from USBcell and Sanyo. The USBcell line of AA batteries work just like normal rechargeables, but you can simply pop off the lid to recharge by any powered USB port. The Eneloop batteries from Sanyo–which come pre-charged, so they can be used right out of the pack–have an extremely low self-discharge rate, with the ability to maintain 85 percent of residual capacity after one year of storage and 70 percent after two years.

Plus, Eneloop batteries can be charged up to 1,000 times without experiencing an effect on chargeability.

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Via: greencp.com/eco-friendly-batteries-for-your-electronics/
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Green Computing: Sun Launches Low-Power Storage Tech

Data storage systems — computers that enable companies to store and access large amounts of data — might be a bit of a dry topic for a Monday morning. But this morning, computing company Sun Micro systems is launching a new set of data storage products that use open source and solid-state memory drives to cut their energy consumption to one quarter that of traditional data storage systems.

Solid state drives have no moving parts and require less power to operate than mechanical disk drives. While solid state drives aren’t used as commonly in current storage systems, Sun says that a smaller energy bill, combined with standard hardware and an open source system, means the storage product — dubbed the 7000 or Amber Road family — can offer cost savings of 75 percent compared with competing storage technology.

For customers, the eco-aspect is likely overshadowed by the overall cost savings, but the large amount of power consumed by computing is an increasingly important issue. The electricity used by servers alone doubled between 2000 to 2005 to about 123 billion kilowatt-hours, or about 1 percent of the world’s electricity use, according to Jonathan Koomey, a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and Stanford University. Koomey says going forward computing will only become a worse power hog, potentially sucking up 45-76 percent more electricity in 2010 than in 2005.

Sun’s storage products are a bright spot of innovation in some difficult times. The company’s revenue fell 7 percent and it posted a net loss of almost $1.7 billion in the most recent quarter. While Sun’s storage business is tiny compared to that of HP or EMC, it is one of the fastest growing parts of the company.

Source:earth2tech.com/2008/11/10/green-computing-sun-launches-low-power-storage-tech/
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Apple Touts 'Greenest Family Of Notebooks Ever'

Apple is proclaiming its latest line of MacBooks as "the greenest family of notebooks ever made." Could this set off another front in the 'I'm A Mac, I'm A PC' wars withMicrosoft and PC makers?

In the 30-second spot, Apple says that the redesigned MacBooks unveiled in October are free of mercury and other harmful toxins found in other PCs, and have cases made of recyclable aluminum and glass. MacBooks are also engineered to run on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb, Apple notes.

In addition to using mercury-free LED technology and arsenic-free glass, Apple, in an environmental update posted to its Web site, says it has removed brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and PVC from the MacBook as well as the Apple LED Cinema Display, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and iPhone 3G.

Apple has been criticized for its stranglehold on hardware and software, but that's one of the reasons the company gives for being able to design MacBooks to use less electricity and earn Energy Star certification.

Apple appears to have improved its environmental image since last October, when Greenpeace issued a scathing report that claimed the iPhone contains hazardous chemicals in both its external and internal components.

It's unclear how many consumers actually based purchasing decisions on a vendor's environmental track record, but it can be an important part of convincing a customer to purchase a higher-end Apple machine, says Erick Laabs, vice president of The Mac Store, a Portland, Ore.-based Apple reseller.

"This type of marketing can help make it easier for a customer to justify an Apple notebook over a cheaper Windows-based PC," Laabs said.

It's possible that the green MacBook ads could be the beginning of a campaign to juxtapose Apple's progressive environmental policies with those of its plodding, backward competitors. It has been done before, with great effectiveness.

Greenpeace applauded Apple's elimination of some toxic materials in the latest MacBooks, but the environmental organization dropped Apple's ranking from 10th to 14th in its recently released December 2008 Guide To Greener Electronics.

Greenpeace asserts in the report that despite some companies' progress, the IT industry has a long way to go when it comes to being environmentally friendly.

Source:crn.com
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First eco-friendly computer developed in Ireland

MicroPro Computers LTD invented the iameco computer, which has been built from bio-degradable wood panels left over from waste products in the lumber and pulp industry.

The computer uses one third less energy than typical everyday computers, with the biodegradable equipment also capable of being used in the manufacturing of equipment such as keyboards and computer monitor casing.

Paul Maher, managing director of MicroPro, said that the energy efficiency of the computer is not the only positive aspect it has on the environment.

"Our business is built around green technologies and using them to produce healthier, more energy-efficient and cheaper computers that have less impact on the environment," he said.

"One advantage of iameco is that when the components are buried in landfill the wood gets wet, breaks down and new plants begin to grow from old computers."

The Irish company is based in the Rathfarnham area of South Dublin and was established in 1990.

Source:edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=15639&channel=0&title=First+eco-friendly+computer+developed+in+Ireland
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Dublin First with Eco-Computer

World’s First Eco-Computer Produced in Dublin.

The world’s first biodegradable computer has been produced in Dublin. The iameco computer is built from bio-degradable wood panels manufactured from waste products from the lumber and pulp industry.

Inventors of iameco, MicroPro Computers Ltd explained to the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Jimmy Devins T.D, how they can implant the seeds of native-tree species into these wood panels when he visited the company today to announce details of a new Enterprise Ireland Green Technology Support for businesses.

“Our business is built around green technologies and using them to produce healthier, more energy-efficient and cheaper computers that have less impact on the environment”, said Paul Maher, MD of MicroPro. One advantageof iameco is that when the components are buried in landfill the wood gets wet, breaks down and new plants begin to grow from old computers”.

In addition to the iameco computer, which uses one third less energy than regular computers, the biodegradable wood can also be used to manufacture the computer monitor casing, keyboard and mouse.

Minister Devins was on a visit to MicroPro Computers Ltd in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin to learn how the Irish owned company has used Enterprise Ireland supports to produce the world’s first eco-computer.

Commenting on the success of iameco, Minister Devins said: “The iameco computer story is a true example of innovation at work. Not only have MicroPro Computers developed a new, profitable product range but consumers now have the option of buying an environmentally friendly computer or TV’

‘Green technologies offer many opportunities to companies to innovate and save money. Enterprise Ireland’s GreenTech Support can help companies find ways to reduce air pollution and effluents, conserve water and save energy in the workplace as well as come up with new environmentally friendly products” he concluded.

Green PC, Green Computer, Green Technology

Source: irishdev.com/Home/News/167-Dublin-First-with-EcoComputer.html
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Cell Phone Makers Go Green With Chargers

The five major cell phone manufacturers launched Wednesday a common energy rating system for chargers that's designed to enable customers to choose the most energy-efficient charger.

The new rating system will be star-based, and it will show how much power chargers use when left plugged into the wall but disconnected from the phone. The ratings are based on the European Commission's energy standards for chargers, as well as the Energy Star standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rating system was developed and will be supported by LG,Motorola, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Ericsson.

Customers will be able to visit each cell phone manufacturer's Web site to see and compare the results for every charger. The companies said that most consumers are unaware of much energy a charger uses when it's left plugged into a wall.

"If the more 3 three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium-sized power plants," Nokia said in a statement.

The companies have been taking steps to help solve this problem, and they have made power chargers more energy efficient as well as implemented power-alert systems. Motorola said it has been able to reduce average standby energy use by at least 70% since 2000.

There's also a crop of new companies that are looking for alternative ways to charge a cell phone. M2E Power is working on a motion-powered charging product that could provide about 60 minutes of talk time after six hours of motion. Additionally, solar- and wind-powered chargers have also popped up.

Source:informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100881&subSection=Infrastructure
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Some Important Tips For Buying Green PC

Green PC refers to the system where the equipments used are entirely environmental friendly. The main aspiration of Green IT is to diminish the use of harmful products while maximizing the efficiency of the system. The Green PC is an integral ingredient of Green IT. The concept of Green IT is not very new for the IT users, but still it has not been adapted by all. Many consumers are there who are willing to buy an environmental friendly machine, but they are not aware how to accomplish this. According to a recent survey, about 7 in 10 consumers say they are still willing to spend up to 20 percent more for "green" sustainable products. So, here I am going to provide a user guide to buy a green PC.

Processors and chipsets: A computer system is made up of mainly two ingredients – Processors and chipsets. Use of an efficient chipset can make your pc more environmental friendly. Some energy saving processors in the market are AMD Athlon 64 or Intel Core 2-series processor, the latest Athlon X2 and Core 2 stepping reduce power considerably over its earlier products. The latest processor series Plethora of Core 2 by Intel is another energy saving series, while some energy consuming processors are Netburst-era Pentium 4s and Athlon 64 X2s.

So, if you are going to buy a new processor, take care about the choice of processor.

Video cards: Another efficient way to conserve energy is with the use of integrated videos with motherboard. The use of separate video card consumes more energy. Motherboards spitting out integrated video via DVI or HDMI aren't that hard to find, so power-users with their massive LCDs don't have to suffer.

Generally, a video card is required for gaming purposes and foe decent 3D performance, but this dilemma can be overcome by using AMD Radeon HD 3850 processor as it draws only 13.5W energy when idle as compare to other processors like NVIDIA 8800 GT and NVIDIA G92.

Power supply: Power supplies are the component of a computer that supplies power to the rest of the parts in a computer system. The amount of power supply is directly proportional to the data installed. So, it is a smart option to store only required data in a computer and attach only required devices to it.

Computer size: Notebooks are less prone to waste energy, so they are called as the most power efficient as well. Secondly, they are made to run on battery and hence as a result saves energy most of the time. So, notebook users today can save more energy and can promote the concept of greenest computers well.

A general Guide for Green IT Solutions: Here, I am going to present a buyer guide for Green IT Solutions.

• Purchase EPEAT-registered computers and monitors. These are by definition qualified by Energy Star.

• Always purchase Energy Star qualified office equipment.

• Activate power management features on computers and monitors

• Avoid hazardous material

• Recycle it

Source: itvoir.com/portal/boxx/knowledgebase.asp?iid=1287&Cat=23
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