Startup Green Plug wants to build intelligence into power supplies so they would become much more energy efficient by "knowing" exactly how much juice devices need.

The company is designing controller chips and a communications protocol so that power supply hubs could be used to charge a variety of devices and minimize their energy draw. For example, a digital music device or mobile phone would include a chip that can tell a hub exactly how much energy it needs to fill the battery, and once it's charged, completely shut off the hub so that no power wasted.

This intelligence would also end the era of chargers that are tied to the specific voltage of the device, so you wouldn't have to toss a charger if you decided to upgrade your phone.

To realize this dream Green Plug has raised Series A funding from Peninsula Equity Partners of Menlo Park, Calif. The company will use the money to build an industry standard that would be the basis for a "Universal Power Protocol chip" and Greentalk, the company's digital communications protocol.

The standard will be announced this week at the DEMO conference.

Countless chargers each year end up in the landfill, and this would end their obsolescence. Chargeres that are plugged in for days on end waste considerable electricity, so a smart power supply would reduce the amount of CO2 generated to produce this wasted electricity.