HP Announces Comprehensive Energy Reduction Plan

Apr 4, 2007 12:36 PM
By Mark Valentine, Technical Editor, Power Electronics Technology

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has announced its goal to reduce its global energy use by 20% by 2010. This goal is part of the company’s global environmental strategy that addresses three levels of the business: products, internal operations and supply chain management. One recent innovation that will help HP meet this goal is the introduction of select HP desktop business PCs that offer 80%-efficient power supplies. These desktop PCs were the first to meet the EPA’s EnergyStar 4.0 requirements.

According to Carl Eckersley of the Supply Chain Operations staff for HP’s Personal Systems Group, the use of higher-precision and higher-efficiency electrical components enables the supplies to achieve 80% efficiency. Consequently, they are 33% more efficient than their predecessors.

HP has further reduced power consumption in these desktop PCs through the use of a BIOS that has preset sleep states to save power, and adjustable fan speeds to maximize operating efficiency. To enable this feature, the PCs include temperature sensors to monitor heat output and fan use, which also helps to maintain system life and to reduce acoustical noise.

To facilitate the reduction of energy required for its internal operations, HP will use its Dynamic Smart Cooling system for data centers. This system can deliver 20% to 45% savings in cooling energy costs.

To manage its supply chain consistently, HP implemented the materials restrictions on all projects shipping worldwide when the RoHS was passed in the EU. Eckersley states that HP is also in compliance with the similar regulations set forth by China, Japan and California.

HP provides further information about these programs and its commitment to energy reduction in its Global Citizenship Report.