Here’s something a bit different. Green Computing’s about more than just power efficiency and the reduction of hazardous substances in our electronic equipment. It also includes everything from recycling the paper we use in our printers to responsible disposal of end-of-life gear, and even extends to informed selection of the peripherals we use. And what could be more peripheral then the chair you sit in? Chances are you’re sitting in one now reading this. So why not make it a green chair?
Marvell, a manufacturer of storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions has just announced that they’ve developed power supply technology designed to cut PC energy use and help decrease carbon emissions.The new chips dynamically adapt the incoming electrical current and align the current and voltage coming from the outlet for optimal energy use by the PC. Apparently, this improves the energy efficiency of the power supply and reduces electro-magnetic interference by intelligently adjusting the supply profile to provide only the amount of power required by the PC at any given time.
Tired of reading about wind, hydro and solar power? Here’s the next thing in renewable energy – breath. Actually, is this classed as ‘renewable’? I guess so, although if one of the by-products of breathing is CO2, is this something we should be promoting? So many questions. I suppose if you’re planning on breathing anyway you might as well have a look at this ‘cause it’s pretty cool.
D-Link, a designer, developer and manufacturer of networking and broadband solutions, has just announced a line of environmentally friendly Gigabit switches for small and home offices. Everyday it seems another electronics company heralds the arrival of some green initiative and, as far as I’m concerned, that’s great. As you’ve probably noticed, these announcements are often greeted with a healthy round of skepticism, but as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, such a cynical take on initiatives like this is shortsighted.
So why has D-link come out with this green line? In their own words, it’s because “[p]ublic awareness and legislative action worldwide have created demands for improvements in energy efficiency for networking equipment.” Sounds pretty upfront to me.
I was doing some research into solar chargers at work today and came across this do-it-yourself video. Now, I admit to not being the most tech savvy guy out there, but constructing a solar-powered charger that I can use to charge up my mobile phone or MP3 player, is something I would have considered out of my league before seeing this video.
Have a look. I’m going to try it out myself and will let you know if I have any success. I’d love to hear if anyone else has tried this, and how they got on.
