Counting the ecological cost of conventional PCs and the benefits of Remote Client Solutions.

Addressing climate change has become a business-critical issue. In addition to aggressive government targets, companies face growing expectations from consumers, stakeholders and competitors to function more sustainably.

Britain’s top 200 companies waste more than £60 million annually with power-hungry desktop computers. This is equivalent to 2.8 gigawatt hours of power – more than all the wind farms in the UK and the same as two coal-fired power stations.

In fact, IT equipment can account for up 70 percent of a company’s energy use, according to the Carbon Trust. A single PC left on for 220 days and night is responsible for a tonne of carbon dioxide over a three-year period.

What’s more a conventional desktop PC can cost £52 a year in power alone. Multiply that figure by the number of computers in your organisation and it quickly mounts up. Clearly, there are compelling economic and ecological reasons to look closely at PC energy consumption.

Remote Client Solutions are greener than conventional PCs. For a start they have a small CO₂ footprint. CO₂ emissions start when a computer is manufactured and shipped. Thin clients require considerably less energy and resources to build because they contain fewer parts than a regular PC. They weigh about half as much which cuts the cost of distribution.

In operation, they use a fraction of the power of a regular computer. Even when paired with a Blade PC or Citrix or VMware server, they use much less power than a similarly-capable desktop PC. This means lower electricity bills, less damage to the environment and a reduced requirement for air conditioning. IDC estimates that companies using RCS can cut their power costs by up to 72 percent.

CO₂ emissions are a major green concern but not the only one. Waste is growing problem. 1.5 million computers are buried in landfill sites every year in the UK. In fact, the European Union landfills almost 2 million tonnes of electronic waste annually according to the Carbon Trust. Over a third of that is IT waste.

Thin clients last longer than PCs, cutting replacement costs and waste. The thin clients used in HP Remote Client Solutions last 50 percent longer than a desktop PC, in part because they are more reliable and in part because the processing and storage take place elsewhere. In addition, you may not need to buy so much kit to begin with. For example, IDC reckons that each Blade PC eliminates 1.3 conventional PCs and 0.04 servers. This greatly reduces computer disposal costs and unnecessary waste. It saves you money in the long run and it reduces the amount of computer hardware that goes into landfills.

Thin clients are also nicer to have around than regular PCs. They have no moving parts – no fans or hard disks – which mean that they are much quieter than a conventional PC. Reducing ambient office noise can reduce fatigue and stress, making workers more productive. In addition, thin clients generate much less heat so offices stay cooler and air conditioning is more effective. Finally, they are much more compact than a conventional computer; freeing up more desk space.