Against the grain: The eco-friendly wooden computer that could spark a revolution
With power-hungry chips and ever-bigger screens, most new PCs are eco disasters. But not this one.
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
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Even in the design-obsessed 21st century, when our iPod Nanos come in all the colours of the rainbow and flat-panel TVs are hung on walls and admired like works of art, wooden computer are still capable of turning heads. But this one aims to do more than make a fashion statement – its goal is to save the planet.
This is the prototype of what its manufacturers, PC World, claim is the UK's first truly carbon-neutral mass-market PC. Due to be launched in October, it uses between 13 and 17 per cent of the energy of a standard desktop computer. And if it sells well, it could spark a revolution, reversing our ever-growing appetite for power-hungry gadgets.
"There has been an increasing interest from the public for a green computer," says Peter Lyons of DSG International, the parent company of PC World and Currys. "In the past, environmental products have asked consumers to make a compromise. That's why they haven't been very successful – previous low-power units have performed very slowly so they can't do as much as a standard computer. But this is going to have the same sort of power as one of the average units on sale at Christmas – and it will cost about the same, too."
Lighter than a standard mini-tower, the PC (which is yet to be named) is easily moved. It doesn't have a fan, which saves energy and also makes it very quiet. Users will save around £29 a year on their electricity bill, based on an average of five hours' use a day. PC World also intends to offset the carbon emitted in the production and delivery of the machines, and plans to offset some of its customers' carbon emissions by giving them an energy-saving light bulb or two. All the packaging will be produced from recycled materials, and there are no instruction manuals - everything has been put on CD. The base unit will cost around £399, and the screen an additional £100.
Computer manufacturers have long been singled out for their impact on the environment. A study carried out by the UN found that the manufacture of a 24kg PC burns 240kg of fossil fuels, produces 22 kg of harmful chemicals and consumes 1.5 tons of water. By contrast, the manufacture of cars or fridges only consumes between one and two times' their weight in fossil fuels.
Many of the chemicals found in PCs are toxic, and can contaminate water supplies near landfill sites where old computers are dumped. Cadmium is used in circuit boards and semiconductors, mercury in switches, lead in cathode-ray tubes and even arsenic in some older models. Tens of millions of CRT screens are discarded each year as consumers upgrade to flat screens. And according to the European Environmental Agency, the volume of electronic rubbish is rising three times faster than other forms of municipal waste.
The growing popularity of technology in our homes – from DAB radios to set-top boxes, laptops, LCD TVs and plasma screens – has resulted in the annual UK spend on consumer electronics and domestic IT equipment soaring to over £12bn. We spend more on gadgets than any other nation in Europe, and then blow £1.9bn every year powering them. While digital set-top boxes are cheap (sometimes even free with subscription packages), by 2010 they could be costing us £366m every year in electricity or £14 per household, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the EST, says: "Products are being used in ways that were undreamt of just a few years ago. We can now listen to the radio through TV and PC, but it's highly unlikely that consumers realise that this can use far more energy than conventional products, or that some digital radios use almost as much energy when considered 'switched off' as they do while switched on. And a new flat-panel TV can use up to three times more electricity than a 'traditional' TV."
Across the UK, the output of about two-and-a-half 700MW power stations is accounted for by gadgets left on stand-by. The UK's DVD players and video recorders consume over £255m worth of electricity each year while on stand-by, producing over one million tons of CO2. Mobile phone chargers left plugged in are responsible for a 250,000 tons of CO2.
If the green PC catches on, it could be the tipping point. But in the meantime, make sure you don't leave your PC "sleeping" all day – switch it off or get a laptop (some use just a tenth of the power of desktop PCs). But it might not be long before you have a PC built with the environment in mind. And soon you might be able to get the wooden TV, hi-fi and DVD-player to match.
COOL RUNNING
The power pack is on the outside, like an external adaptor for a laptop. This means a cooling fan isn't required.
LITTLE WONDER
It's about a quarter the size of a standard PC, so uses less material to make.
LIGHTS OUT
LED power lights have been scrapped – instead both the PC and monitor have old-style push buttons.
ON THE CASE
Most of the case is made from aluminium recycled from items such as drinks cans. Standard PCs have a steel frame and a plastic case, and are not made from recycled materials.
PLASTIC FANTASTIC
The casing is made from recycled plastic from Europe, and the machines assembled in the UK.
WOODEN HEART
The screen, mouse and keyboard casing are made from sustainable beech, ash or sapele (a tropical wood like mahogany) felled in Africa, Germany and the US. They are the first mass-market wooden computer accessories.
HEAT RESISTANT
The case is designed to conduct heat away from the computer's main chip, so it needs no fan. This helps cut the power it requires. The whole system runs on 40 watts – normal tower PCs use up to 300 watts.
