Left on PCs waste £630,000 over Xmas

New research claims over 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emitted over festive period as a result of staff's failure to turn off PCs while on holiday

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".