Computer scientists in Germany claim to have developed an energy efficient means of data processing that could radically change how a homeowner's PCs operate and save them money on
home energy bills.
Researchers from Goethe University in Frankfurt and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have developed a system that "substantially reduces the energy consumption for processing huge amounts of data".
Developments like these may accelerate home PCs in the future and could be beneficial to those who work from home.
In the meantime, there are still ways in which people can use their computer more efficiently.
Technology website Evan Carmichael offers a number of straight forward techniques to save energy such as changing the power options settings on a PC to switch off the monitor and computer after a period of time.
For those taking short breaks away from their machine, the hibernate option, available on PCs and MACs, allows the user to come back to their work without fear of losing data or needing to waste power.
More common tricks involve turning down the brightness on a screen or making sure there are no USB data storage devices, such as pen drives, unnecessarily plugged in as they can use up plenty of
electricity.
Furthermore, how many people knew how much energy internet surfing and particularly search engines consume?
Blackle was the first major eco-friendly search engine and its principle is very simple, darker colours on your screen will save energy, hence the use of black backgrounds when you type in a query.
Tests showed that monitors using white background search engines were utilising more power. American blogger Mark Ontkush even suggested, on his EcoIron blog that such applications could save 750 megawatt hours of energy.
Since Blackle's debut many imitations have popped up such as Reegle and Earthle.
So, there are
plenty of ways to save energy and still use your desktop or laptop wherever you may be.
