Office workers returning to work today to find they forgot to turn off their PC are guilty of costing UK businesses more than half a million pounds in avoidable energy bills, according to new research.
The calculations from PC management software specialist 1E were based on the company's UK Energy Report, undertaken in conjunction with the National Energy Foundation, which found that 40 per cent of the UK population use PCs at work, and 18 per cent of these workers admit that these are never switched off over night and at weekends.
Based on these figures UK businesses will have wasted £630,000 through their energy bills and generated nearly 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions as a result of staff's failure to turn off their PCs.
Simon Francis, vice president of energy solutions at 1E, said that the figures represented a conservative estimate as the calculations were based on people only being out of the office for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, despite the fact many UK workers were away for up to eleven days. He warned that "the amount actually wasted is likely to be much higher".
Computing's review of the year looks back at the top stories about IT and the environment 18 Dec 2007
Report claims new tax breaks mean shifting to greener company cars could save billions - and slash UK emissions by almost five million tonnes a year 07 Apr 2008
Despite emergence of new energy-efficient systems, new reports insist the IT industry is struggling to reduce its carbon footprint 03 Dec 2007
Staff too scared of bosses and co-workers to embrace energy-saving practices 01 Jul 2008
Defra report finds UK businesses cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2006, but international aviation emissions increased 31 Jan 2008
Report claiming solar panels take over 100 years to recoup their value is just plain wrong, say manufacturers 05 Sep 2008
New hybrid hatchback designed to make dual-drive vehicles more affordable 05 Sep 2008
Republican attempts to highlight differences over energy policy as both candidates pledge to deliver US energy independence 05 Sep 2008
More news
Once your company has gathered up all the low-hanging fruit, what comes next? Sarah Fister Gale finds that the answer lies in everything from multi-million dollar energy efficiency programmes to printers powered by exercise bikes 03 Sep 2008
Slow journey times mean airships are highly unlikely to replace passenger jets, but, as Danny Bradbury discovers, a flotilla of new companies are convinced that low-fuel costs mean the old-fashioned aircraft could have huge appeal to freight operators 02 Sep 2008
Recent claims from the oil giant's chief executive suggesting tar sand extraction is required to slow the shift to coal may have caught the eye, but as BusinessGreen.com discovers they do not make much sense 28 Aug 2008 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
