The efforts for PC makers to create green products is continuing at a blinding rate, as consumers and government regulators urge companies to be more environmentally conscious.
Regardless of why companies are attempting to go green, I applaud them for stepping up to respond to our challenges. I seemingly receive new press releases each day from companies announcing and releasing more eco-friendly products, with additional government oversight -- for better or worse -- into the industry.
For example, Maingear Computers announced Pulse, a new energy efficient gaming PC powered by the NVIDIA Ion GPU platform. The most eco friendly version of the PC is powered by 65 watt Intel 2 Core 2 Duo CPUs, with an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT ECO video card -- pricing starts at $799.
The move to go green is very evident among hard drive manufacturers, who continually look to create even more eco friendly products for use in home PCs and data centers. Both PC and notebook HDDs have undergone a more eco-centric focus as of late, with Seagate, Western Digital, and others promising more green products. Companies also are preparing for a transition towards solid state drives (SSDs), which offer increased energy efficiency and more stability over HDDs.
Energy-efficient TVs and home appliance have also gone greener due to consumer demand, with the trend expected to increase in the coming years.
China has launched a new campaign to offer state subsidized coupons for consumers who purchase select air conditioners that are more energy-efficient. Japan and the United States also are offering incentives to manufacturers creating energy-efficient products, including tax breaks.
China and other governments are worried about the so "vampire electronics" that still draw power even though they're not turned on and being used. Reducing how much energy these vampire electronics consume is another issue being reviewed by governments and product manufacturers.
