Entries tagged with energy - Channel 10

The future of energy efficient mobility

Laura — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:43:00 GMT

Energy efficient personal mobility is something that we all should be concerned with. We all need to get around and we all need to do our part to save the environment. That's why "Going Green" was such a huge theme at this year's Wired Magazine's NextFest. The Toyota booth took up nearly 1/4 of the show floor as they showed off multiple vehicles and even let attendees ride the I-Real. So, exactly how efficient are these futuristic rides? Watch this clip to find out and then check out this clip for more info on how you can help!

Go Green With Edison

sarahintampa — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Edison is a new download that helps you with PC Power Management. The app comes from a company called Verdiem, which offers similar technology for large enterprises for a fee. With Edison, though, you’ll get those same power-saving tools for free. After you download and register the program, you can customize your settings through a set of easy-to-use tabs. You can specify when you use your PC the most, edit settings for both "work" and "home," use a slider to adjust your savings level, and more. But the best part of this app is where it tells you what your estimated annual power savings will be. Edison provides those figures in dollars, Kilowatt hours, and even in pounds of CO2 saved! You can download Edison from www.microsoft.com/environment – the link is on the right. (via Steve Clayton)

Dell’s New Studio Hybrid PCs

sarahintampa — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:01:00 GMT

At long last, the new “green” PCs that have been under development at Dell have finally arrived. The Dell Studio Hybrid PC is 80% smaller than the conventional desktop mini-tower while also using 70% less power than typical desktop PCs. Their small form factor lets them fit almost anywhere and the optional wireless keyboard and mouse help kill the clutter. The PCs are Energy Star 4.0 compliant (of course!)and can be customized with 6 interchangeable color sleeves or even a sleeve made of environmentally- friendly bamboo. Despite their small size, the Studio Hybrid still finds room for a CD/DVD drive, analog and digital sound ports, a gigabit networking port, and HDMI and DVI ports. The PCs start at $499 and go up depending on your customizations like selecting a Blu-Ray drive, more memory, or a larger hard drive.

Make Your PC Wake From Sleep Automatically

sarahintampa — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:46:00 GMT

A lot of people these days are becoming more aware of the energy savings to be had by shutting down unused equipment when it’s not in use. And while it’s no problem to shut off the TV and the end of the evening a lot of people have trouble doing the same for the PC. This is mainly because it’s nice to have all your work on your computer right there where you left it when you return in the morning. Of course, this is what “sleep” mode is for – you can save energy without losing your place.

But wouldn’t it be nice if your computer knew when to wake up for you? Well, it can! Using the Task Scheduler (In Vista: Control Panel\System and Maintenance\Administrative Tools\Task Scheduler), you can make your PC wake up at the designated time you want just by having it run a simple task – like say, launching then closing the command prompt window.

For example:

Schedule a task that executes the command cmd.exe with command line arguments [/c “exit”] (without the []) and make sure to set the ‘Wake computer up to execute this task’ in the power options. Schedule the task for when you want your computer to wake up and you will never have to wait on it again.

(Thanks to Thomas Delrue for this tip!)

5 Ways to Practice Green Computing

sarahintampa — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 21:23:00 GMT

There is a lot of interest in environmental responsibility these days: debates on global warming, hybrid cars, recycling, buying environmentally friendly products, conserving energy, reducing waste, etc., etc. Additionally, there has been a growing area of discussion on the subject of "green computing." What exactly is green computing? Mostly, it's the practice of using computing resources efficiently. With today's powerful systems, not to mention the myriads of peripheral devices, the home office is an area of the house where energy is wasted and lost. If you're interested in ways to reduce your power consumption, here are ways you can go "green" at home:

1. Buy "Energy Star" labeled monitors, desktops, laptops, and printers . The "Energy Star" devices can be programmed to "power-down" to a low power state when they are not in use, helping you save energy and run cooler which helps them last even longer. The Energy Star specification for computers was revised on October 20, 2006 and goes into effect July 20, 2007. The specification includes new performance requirements to qualify for the Energy Star rating for desktop and notebook computers, workstations, integrated computers, desktop-derived servers and game consoles. Now you can feel good about that upgrade!

2. Put laptops in "sleep" mode when not in use. The EPA has estimated that this reduces their energy use by 60 to 70 percent – and ultimately could save enough electricity each year to power Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, cut electric bills by $2 billion, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of 5 million cars.

3. Even better, turn OFF computers and other equipment when not in use. Despite the debate over whether it's better for your computer to be left on or shut off, the fact is it's better for the environment to shut it off. Trust me, your computer can handle it just fine; in fact, computers were designed to be turned off and back on!

4. E-cycle used computer equipment. Find a recycler in your area. Also, Staples, the office supply retailer, has now started a recycling program. They will accept any brands of used desktop and notebook computers, monitors, printers, fax machines and all-in-one devices with a fee of $10. Smaller items like keyboards, mice and speakers are free to drop off.

5. Buy the new "Smart Strip" power strip. The Smart Strip actually senses how much power your computer peripherals use. And when the Smart Strip senses that you've turned your computer off, it automatically shuts off your peripherals, too, preventing them from drawing an idle current, which is the current drawn even after equipment is shut off.

Speaking of going green, yesterday was the huge Live Earth event, a series of worldwide concerts to raise awareness about the global climate crisis. You can catch up on what you missed over at the Live Earth website, where they feature streaming videos from the concerts, photos, news, and more information about going green.

Change a bulb, change everything.

Laura — Tue, 22 May 2007 20:40:00 GMT

Al Gores Academy Award Winning documentary about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth" has exponentially heightened America's awareness about the state of our environment. The film is both frightening and motivational. I met with the producer of "An Inconvenient Truth", Lawrence Bender about his latest effort to help save the planet : 18seconds.org. On his site and in this interview you'll learn about some tiny changes we can all make in our daily lives that can drastically help preserve our planet. Watch this interview, visit 18seconds.org and spread the word.

The Buzz on Energy Drinks

Adam — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 17:00:00 GMT

So after watching Tina and Laura in previous videos, we were thinking they needed a little more energy, just a little bit more enthusiasm. So why not load them up with energy drinks and see what happens??

Please note the above paragraph is dripping with sarcasm.