computer technology is responsible for 2 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions — the same amount as all air traffic.

(Unfortunately, you’ll have to become a member to read the articles on ClimateWire, but don’t worry, I’ll sum up the important stuff from this article right here.)

The article goes on to lay most of the blame on supercomputers, stating that the Leibnitz Computer Center in Munich, Germany, is

tackling the problem, but not without a €120,000 ($185,000) monthly electric bill.

Most of that energy usage comes from keeping the massive banks of computers cool, yet some of it comes from running the computers themselves:

A new supercomputer at the Leibniz Computer Center will use the same amount of power that a 400-ton high-speed train uses to accelerate from zero to 186 miles per hour.

Going on to lay some of the blame of energy consumption via computing on the average citizen, the article claims that:

Rough calculations determined that one Google search consumes enough electricity to run an 11-watt, energy-saving light bulb for 15 minutes to 1 hour.

If you’re concerned about the amount of energy you consume through your computer, here are a few things you can do:

Energy-Saving Tips
• Put it to sleep or turn it off when not in use. Yeah, this is a no-brainer, but too many of us get used to just leaving the thing on all the time. And don’t forget to turn your monitor off as well. If you’re not yet using a flat screen, your old one may be using more energy than the computer itself.

• Turn off the peripherals. Do you really need your printer on all the time? Especially now that you’re trying to save paper by printing fewer pages?

• Unplug the energy vampires: all those things you’ve got plugged in that aren’t even on but still draw power.

I won’t get into all of them. For more computing energy saving tips, see the following sites:
Computer Energy Saving Tips: http://17-lcd-flat-panel-monitor-review.toptenreviews.com/computer-energy-saving.html
Ten Energy Saving Tips: http://www.unl.edu/unlpub/special/energy/
LifeHacker Top 10 Computer Energy Savers: http://lifehacker.com/software/lifehacker-top-10/top-10-computing-energy-savers-278222.php

And if you’re feeling guilty by the energy consumed by all those Google searches you’re doing, give Blackle a try.

Try Telecommuting or the Four Day Work Week
But for all of the energy consumed by computers, it’s still not as much as is consumed by all those cars on the highway just during commuting times. A study last year by the Consumer Electronics Association titled “The Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impact of Telecommuting and e-Commerce” shows that using electronics to telecommute saves the equivalent of 9 to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year — the same amount of energy used by roughly 1 million U.S. households every year.

Now there’s reason enough to stay home.

But even if you still have to travel to work, I highly recommend adopting the four day work week. There are several promoters online of the four day work week (look here and here), but the best article I’ve seen is a manifesto written by Ryan Carson on the site A List Apart. He very well outlines the problem, the challenge, and then provides some great suggestions on how to make it all work.

While I haven’t quite been able to adopt the four day work week (hey, I’m working more than five just trying to get my new business up and running), I am now working at home and have greatly reduced my driving. I’m curious to know how you’re handling the challenges of reducing the carbon footprint related to your work. Drop me a line or comment here to let me and other readers know.