Apr 1 2008
IGEL Technology, the world's third largest thin client vendor, today announced that thin clients are helping businesses around the world to fight global warming. The choice of thin clients over PCs on the business desktop has reduced CO2 emissions in the United States by 163,000 tons in 2007 - equivalent to the emissions of 740 flights from Los Angeles to New York.
This analysis is based on the latest IDC analyst figures and research carried out by the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, which used IGEL thin clients to compare the power and CO2 emissions of thin clients against traditional business PCs. The results demonstrated significant power, ecological and financial savings with the use of thin clients.
“Energy consumption of IGEL thin clients in operation was up to 50 percent lower than for conventional PCs,” concluded Dr Hartmut Pflaum, the Fraunhofer researcher. “While PCs consume about 85 watts on average, thin clients including their server get by with 40 to 50 watts. In view of climate changes and the need to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide, this is an important factor.”
With IDC figures reporting over 3.3 million thin clients sold in the United States since 2004, and an average machine lifecycle of four years, thin client-based businesses have reduced CO2 emissions by 163,000 tons in 2007. These findings are also consistent with the recent Forrester report titled, “Green Benefits Put Thin-Client Computing Back On The Desktop Hardware Agenda,” which reports that thin clients consume anywhere from six to 50 watts compared to the 150 to 350 watts used by a typical PC.
“These analyses prove that businesses can reduce their carbon footprints by simply switching from desktop PCs to thin clients,” said Stephen Yeo, strategic director of worldwide marketing for IGEL Technology. “Since thin clients have the ability to save up to 81% of energy consumption compared to PCs, they are an excellent option for companies seeking greener technology alternatives.”