PC Plug Green Solution For Home Computing

A PC Plug? Better believe it. Home appliances are getting above their station today: first we saw a washing machine that shows your clothes in 3D, and now Marvell has unveiled a PC that’s a plug. It may sound daft, but the Marvell PC Plug could be the green solution for home computing - find out why, after the jump.

Dubbed the SheevaPlug, the Marvell PC Plug is the company’s attempt to come up with a green alternative to home servers that have to be left on all the time, running up large leccy bills - this one’s far more power efficient, which ought to alleviate some green guilt.

Specs wise, the Marvell PC Plug is scarily impressive: a Linux OS, a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of memory and storage practically put it on a par with the original Asus Eee PC, albeit without the screen. You can lash it up to the network with ethernet, and slap on an external hard drive via the USB port too.

With power like that, there’s a lot of scope. Marvell is selling development kits for it, so who knows: it could put Sonos out of business. What do you reckon though? Daft or delightful? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/02/25/the-pc-plug-so-green-it-doesnt-have-a-screen/
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QSC gives 65 Green Computers to the Eid Charity

(QSC) handed over 65 Green Computers to the Eid Charity yesterday. The green computer project launched eight months ago aims at utilising computer parts which are discarded by users and recycling them to make new ones.

“The effort was launched with the help of Microsoft and many other companies who had handed over their unwanted PCs to be recycled,” said Hassan Abdula A Al Abdallah (sixth right in the picture), secretary-general, QSC, and the chairman of Green Computer Project.

“In this way we have made computers which are ready to be used as new. 65 of them have been handed over to the Eid Charity. The computers will be given to children who cannot afford computers either in Qatar or abroad,” he told The Peninsula.

The project is environment-friendly as it recycles the various parts of the computer. Muhammad Hammoudi (third left), of Microsoft Qatar also attended the function held at the QSC yesterday.

Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=February2009&file=Local_News200902242248.xml
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British Experts Develop "Green" Software

A team from the University of Liverpool says it's devised a program that automatically shuts down computer systems after usage.

And members estimate it's saving larger organizations the U.S. equivalent of nearly 20-thousand dollars a month in electricity.

The researchers found that universities with PC centers in 24-hour libraries could be losing more than one million hours of unused computer power each month.

Systems experts say new software called "PowerDown" automatically shuts down computers if left unused for half an hour.

Using the University of Liverpool as a test model, the team discovered that 16-hundred (1,600) library-based PCs alone used 20 thousand kilowatts each week unnecessarily - equating to over four thousand dollars in electricity costs.

PowerDown has so far recovered 24 million hours of PC inactivity within the university, say the scientists.

They estimate an average PC left on round-clock but used for only 40 hours a week uses about 17 kilowatts of electricity - of which about 13 is wasted.

That figure doesn't consider other energy usage such as air-conditioning required to remove heat created by active computers.

Source: http://arkansasmatters.com/content/fulltext/news/?cid=194081
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Wonderful 3 G's: Google, GE and Green Energy

In a fear-filled 24-hour news cycle, it's necessary to break away from all that negativity and read about some positive news. As you know, there are some very smart people in our country doing some great things and we need to hear more about them...especially these days.

There are many green energy initiatives taking place. I recently read about a particularly interesting effort that I think you'll find interesting too. Did you know that Google is investing a lot of money - in the millions - to change the country’s energy infrastructure more into the likes of the Internet, making energy decentralized and distributed, and possibly saving you and I lots of money?

Partnered with GE in many green initiatives, the company envisions a smart electric grid that would be controlled and monitored by a vast computer network that would determine prices based on real-time supply and demand. If this happens, it will change the way that you and I use and pay for electricity.

For example: Suppose the hot and humid summer months in Georgia creates a spike in electricity usage, and therefore prices. Instead of automatically being hit with higher energy prices, you'll have a device with a user-friendly interface that allows you to click on an icon and power down several of your appliances. GE already has a smart-grid lab that's working out the details of such a scenario. Or how about having a wireless system in your home, car, etc., that would automatically shut down appliances and devices if prices hit certain preset levels? In addition to the above, there's hope that you'll be able to select your own energy plans that are more customized to your needs.

Google's motivation to reduce its energy costs is commendable. And after getting hit with some pretty high electric bills myself during the summer, I'll say I'm pretty giddy about such ideas. Maybe we can find ways to heal the planet and add a little more money in our wallets.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-2938-Atlanta-Web-Examiner~y2009m2d21-Hip-Hip-Hooray-for-the-Gs--Google-GE-and-Green-Energy
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Going Green On "E-Recycling"

With the switch to digital television coming in June, many of you will be buying new TV's. But with lead, mercury and other poisonous materials lurking inside, what do you do with your old one?

For years, Pueblo County officials have been trying to find ways to keep residents from dumping their old electronics in ditches, alleys and fields. But now, thanks to the Eden Transfer and Recycling Center it's easier than ever for you to go green.

"They can't go to the landfill, they can't be disposed of in the dumpsters around town," said Jack Pendleton, owner of Eden Transfer and Recycling Center.

Pendleton has started a one of a kind program to Pueblo County.

"Right now, there is no other place in Pueblo County for people to take their e-waste, or electronic waste, their TV's, computers and monitors," explained Pendleton.

However, being kind to the plane does come with a small fee.

"The price ranges anywhere from 5 dollars to 50 dollars," he explained. "It's finding a place to be able to get rid of the TV's in an environmentally safe way."

Wednesday was the programs first day and already people have brought their TV's and computers to the center and Pendleton hopes, the trend will continue.

"We expect this to take off, and hopefully we will have a place for everyone in the community to bring their TV's," he added.

And if for some reason you can't bring your electronics to the center yourself, no need to worry. Just call Eden Transfer and Recycling and they will arrange to come pick it up for you.

You can reach the Eden Transfer and Recycling Center at (719) 546-3478

Here's a short list of the fees:

Desktop Computer W/ Monitor - $15.00

Computer Tower Only - $5.00

Lap Top Computer - $10.00

Printer/Fax/Scanners - $8.00

VCR/DVD Player - $5.00

TV (up to 20") - $15.00

TV (21" - 30") - $20.00

TV (31" - 40") - $25.00

TV (41" and larger) - $40.00
Flat-screen TV up to 40" - $20.00

Source: http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9868366
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Green Calculators

It’s well known that going green saves money as well as dwindling resources. But how much green, of each kind, is saved?

If you’re not the math type, never fear – several vendors offer "green calculators" that will do the hard work for you. While doing some research for a sister publication, I came across a number of different calculators for finding out how much green you can save through virtualization, and other common-sense steps.

# Novell’s PlateSpin, which makes a number of green technology virtualization products, has a detailed 'go-green' consolidation-based calculator. Simply input factors like number of physical servers, average power consumption per server, cost per kWh, processor utilization before and predicted utilization after consolidation, etc. The calculator spits out at the other end savings in kWh and dollars.

Note that these are rough estimates only. Your mileage can, and almost certainly will, vary, perhaps significantly. But it serves as a good benchmark.

Other large virtualization vendors have similar green calculators, including VMware, which is more basic than PlateSpin’s.

# Avaya has an interesting take on going green. It offers a calculator to tote up the environmental savings by turning commuters into telecommuters. It claims that working from home three days per week saves about 200 gallons of gas per year.

# IT consultancy 1E has an "Energy Savings Calculator" that computes the greening of your business from the simple act of turning off computers not in use. It even translates the savings into reduced carbon emissions and trees.

# The Uptime Institute bills itself as a vendor-neutral organization concerned with increasing efficiency in enterprise settings. It publishes a “True TCO Calculator,” which acts as a guide for building a high-density, high-performance, green data center. This would be of more value to companies starting from scratch, rather than those making changes to an existing data center.

# Many computers already have power-saving measures built in, but not activated, in the form of Energy Star-approved computers. The Website Greener Computing has an Excel spreadsheet available to calculate how much greener each computer could be if the power-saving features were activated.

# On a personal level, Google has started the "U.K. Carbon Footprint Project." Going through its calculator gives you an idea of how much pollution you and your household contribute to Great Britian. Then, you can input your location and statistics, and compare your usage vs. others who have done the same. Different-colored balloons separate the good from the bad -- from the ugly. Very cool.

Source: http://virtualizationreview.com/blogs/weblog.aspx?blog=3469
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D-Link Expands Green Technology Initiative

In recent years, networking solutions provider D-Linkhas been greening technology to the computer networking space, and now its Green switches have gotten a bit greener.

The Fountain Valley, California-based company has expanded its role in the development of energy-saving products and initiatives by introducing green technology to computer networking through the introduction of its second-generation D-Link 5-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (DGS-2205).

Steven Joe, president and CEO or D-Link Systems, said the DGS-2205 provides up to 73 percent reduced power consumption without sacrificing network performance.

"Our goal is to maintain industry leadership as a pioneer of Green networking technology by building in even more energy-saving features into our products without sacrificing performance," said Joe.

D-Link Systems is an end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, and the first company to introduce green technology to computer networking, according to Joe.

The DGS -2205, which is already shipping, is one of four “environmentally friendly” small office/home office (SOHO) unmanaged gigabit switches from the company that will ship this year with newly enhanced power-savings.

"We plan to continue the momentum of success we've realized with our first generation Green products as we seek new avenues that protect the environment and help our customers save money in the process," said Joe.

The next-generation D-Link 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch (DGS-2208); the 16-port (DGS-1016D) and 24-port (DGS-1024D) unmanaged gigabit switches will also receive enhanced power-savings later this year.

The computing initiative follows a greater trend throughout the technology industry that has seen an increased effort to bring “green” products to market. D-Link Systems says it focuses on manufacturing environmentally-responsible products, eco-friendly packaging, optimizing devices for ENERGYSTAR certification, and providing consumer education and recycling programs.

The DGS-2205 Green desktop switch can, when used for 10 hours and then powered down for 14 hours over a 24-hour period, and connected via Ethernet cables, represents a 66 percent energy reduction, according to the company.

Source:http://green.tmcnet.com/topics/green/articles/50638-d-link-expands-green-technology-initiative.htm
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