Sustainable PC uses 90 percent less energy

The major players in IT, giants such as Dell, Apple and Microsoft, seem scarcely concerned about the environmental impact of their products. Advertisements seldom say that a new computer is eco-friendly, or that it uses little electricity and reduces CO2 emissions.

That’s a pity, because the IT industry is responsible for no less than two percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. And half of that comes from PCs, whose heat-generating processors need to be cooled: the inevitable ventilator systems are the real power guzzlers.

Dutch relationship therapist and computer whizz kid Wim de Geus, a resident of Amsterdam, discovered that all the parts needed to change a normal PC into a super-sustainable one were already on sale on the internet. The result: a career change, and a computer that uses 90 percent less energy.

Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
Radio Netherlands