谷歌(Google Inc.)和英特尔(Intel Corp.)宣布发起一项行动计划，以推动电脑厂商及用户采用节能技术和产品、降低电脑能耗。

　　这项计划设定了每年减少个人电脑和服务器电力消耗的目标。参加计划的还有微软(Microsoft)、惠普(Hewlett-Packard)、国际商业机器公司(IBM)、高级微设备(Advanced Micro Devices)、Sun电子计算机公司（Sun Microsystems Inc., 又名：升阳微电脑）、PG&E、EDS(Electronic Data Systems)、世界自然基金会(World Wildlife Fund)和美国环保署(Environmental Protection Agency)。

　　据估计，虽然目前电脑耗电只占全世界能源消耗总量的2%，但电脑所消耗的电力中有一半是被白白浪费了。如果电脑用户能够达到节能目标，那么每年因电脑用电而产生的二氧化碳气体会减少5,400万吨，每年节省的能源支出将超过55亿美元。

　　这次节能行动计划名为Climate Savers Computing Initiative。参加计划者必须为设计和生产符合节能要求的软件系统和电脑零部件作出努力。企业用户要采购节能型电脑产品，使用节能型软件。

　　之前，环保署已发起“能源之星”计划，这次CSCI就以它所采用的个人电脑起始阶段节能标准作为基准线。“能源之星”计划主要面向电脑电源供应，而这也是CSCI计划的目标对象之一。

　　谷歌高级副总裁乌尔斯?赫泽尔(Urs Holzle)估计，大多数个人电脑的用电效率在65%左右。他说，“能源之星”的目标是将其提高到80%，而CSCI希望到2010年将该指标提高到90%。

　　CSCI还关注个人电脑浪费电力的另一个根源：安装在主电路板上的稳压器。虽然CSCI没有给出具体目标，但赫泽尔估计，它希望将稳压器效率从80%左右提高到95%。

　　CSCI关注的另一个问题是，鼓励企业在电脑上启动电源管理软件。这种软件可在电脑一段时间没有操作的情况下让其进入休眠状态，以达到节电的目的。

　　英特尔数字企业集团副总裁兼总经理帕特?吉尔辛格(Pat Gelsinger)说，这不是一个技术问题。实际上这取决于企业是否愿意选择。

　　据吉尔辛格估计，在开始阶段节能性能更好的硬件可能需要多花大约20美元（个人电脑）或30美元（服务器）。不过，如果美国的电脑用户能接受这种技术，并推动这种理念向其他国家传播，促使这类硬件大批量生产，则硬件成本将会降低。他说，如果消费者采纳CSCI建议的所有改善能耗的措施，那么，一台电脑每年的耗电量将从大约40美元减少到不足10美元。

　　一些电脑产品生产商已开始尝试销售节能型产品，比如戴尔公司(Dell)。据该公司负责节能计划的高级管理人士乔恩?威斯布拉特(Jon Weisblatt)说，公司采取的最有效的节能做法之一是，在销售的电脑中启动电源管理程序。如果所有电脑在工作过程中有30%的时间使用该功能，则每年将因此节约570亿度电。

　　Google Inc. and Intel Corp. announced an effort to get computer makers and customers to adopt technologies that reduce energy consumption.

　　The initiative sets annual targets for reducing power usage on personal computers and server systems. Other supporters include Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., International Business Machines Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., PG&E Corp., Electronic Data Systems Corp., the World Wildlife Fund and the Environmental Protection Agency.

　　PCs waste about half the power they consume, while computers overall account for about 2% of world-wide energy usage, backers of the effort estimated. If computer users meet the targets, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to supply power for computing uses could drop by 54 million tons a year and save more than $5.5 billion in annual energy costs.

　　Participants in the program, dubbed the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, must commit to produce systems and components that meet the power-efficiency targets. Corporate customers commit to purchase power-efficient computing products and use software that allows computers to waste less energy.

　　The EPA already runs a program called Energy Star, whose initial power-efficiency standards for PCs the new group is using as its base line. That program mainly focuses on PC power supplies, which also are a focus of the new initiative.

　　Urs Holzle, a Google senior vice president, estimated that most PC power supplies operate at about 65% efficiency. The Energy Star guidelines seek to raise that to 80%, but the new initiative sets targets to reach 90% efficiency by 2010, he said.

　　The new program also focuses on another source of wasted energy in PCs -- components called voltage regulators that are installed on the main circuit board. Though it hasn't spelled out its guidelines, Mr. Holzle estimated the group hopes to drive efficiency of voltage regulators to about 95% from about 80%.

　　Another focus is getting companies to turn on power-management software on their PCs, which puts desktop computers into a sleep mode to save energy after periods of inactivity.

　　'This is not a technology problem,' said Pat Gelsinger, a senior vice president and general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group. 'It is really an industry choice.'

　　The improved hardware comes with an upfront cost -- about $20 more on a PC and $30 more for a server, Mr. Gelsinger estimated. But by getting big U.S. computer users to adopt the technology, and then pushing the concept to other countries, greater manufacturing volumes should reduce that price premium, he said. Along the way, the annual electricity bill for running an average PC could drop to less than $10 from about $40, if customers adopt all of the improvements recommended by the group, he said.

　　Some technology vendors already try to one-up each with eco-friendly products. One of Dell's most potent energy-conserving options is simply selling PCs with power-management features switched on, said Jon Weisblatt, a senior manager for energy initiatives at the computer maker. If all working PCs used that feature 30% of the time, it would save 57 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, he said.