The Environmental Impact of Computers : Pt .3

Start > Turn Computer Off > Stand By: With this option, current information is left in memory. Total power draw drops to 2 watts.

Hibernate: Under the Power Options properties there is a Hibernate tab. If you tick the box to enable hibernation, when you hit your power button, current information will be taken from memory and stored on your hard disk and then your system will enter hibernation. The system total power draw drops to 2 watts. Simply hit your power button to boot back into Windows. Unlike the two standby options, your system will still go through the BIOS boot screen and then load the information back into the memory from the hard disks.

Standby is good for short term power-downs (ie. 1-2 hours) whilst hibernation is good for longer periods (such as overnight). This is because Standby still requires the memory to be powered. If there is a brown-out or black-out when a PC is in standby, all of the information stored in memory is lost.

Screen Saver

A screensaver will not reduce the idle power consumption of a PC and in some instances might actually make the PC power draw more than at idle.

RoHS

On 1st July 2006 the European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) came into effect. “This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.”

Although RoHS is a directive and not a law, it has been widely accepted and supported by the hardware manufacturing industry and customers in the European Union. Whilst some manufacturers offer RoHS compliant and non-RoHS compliant versions of the same product, most are switching to offering only RoHS compliant models, which means they will sell worldwide, even where the directive has no governmental basis. This will reduce the problem of toxic waste from PCs building up in landfills – in the future. Over the course of the next 5 years or more, however, older PCs that do not conform to the RoHS standard still need to be disposed of properly. Furthermore RoHS standards do not preclude the use of toxic materials in production, they just reduce the levels. Recycling e-waste even from RoHS hardware is a must.

Lead free

In addition to RoHS standards, some manufacturers, including VIA, are switching some products to lead-free manufacturing. In lead-free manufacturing, the ball of lead that attaches the silicon core to the bottom of a chip, is replaced with a tin, silver and copper composite