Energy efficient IT saves UK Government £7 million

clipped from www.energyefficiencynews.com The UK Government has saved over £7 million in the last year through energy efficient IT measures, according to Cabinet Office Minister Angela Smith. “A year ago the British Government became the first in the world to set tough targets to tackle the huge environmental and financial costs of computer use and I’m delighted to see the real progress that has been made,” she told the Greening Government ICT conference in London today. The simple measures taken by the Government include extending the life of PCs, increasing server efficiency, turning off computers at night and always printing double-sided. Before the energy efficiency measures were adopted, government offices were generating around 460,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year from information and communications technologies – up to 20% of total emissions. The reduction falls short of the potential 117,500 tonnes of CO2 that could be saved annually if all the Government’s desktop computers were switched off out of working hours.