UK businesses wasting £300m powering PCs overnight

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 26 Mar 2009 at 10:06

A new report reveals that UK businesses are wasting £300 million every year powering machines left on overnight.

The study, conducted by 1E, discovered that almost a third of British employees leave their computers on overnight. According to the figures, each of these machines costs £17 a year, though the figure could be even higher.

"The data from the larger companies that deploy our software says that it is nearer 70% of workers that leave machines on," says Sumir Karayi, chief exec of 1E. "We estimate that on any night around 40% of machines are left on."

"A computer uses energy even when it appears to be idle. Shutting down PCs when not in use will help businesses to significantly reduce costs while preventing tons of CO2 from being emitted into our atmosphere."

However, things do appear to be improving, at least with regards to awareness of the problem. Around 27% of UK workers cited environmental concerns as the reason for switching off their machine at night, the highest of the countries surveyed.