Today, Microsoft, Climate Savers and Verdiem have launched a campaign to bring attention to PC energy waste. While many computer efficiency discussions have focused on data centers, there are more than 1 billion PCs running in businesses and home offices. These computers account for the majority of the energy required by the IT industry. They emitted 40 percent of the total carbon emissions emitted by the IT industry — in contrast, data centers are only responsible for about 20 percent.

The average PC produces 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Verdiem has developed a free software package to help computer users reduce the energy that their computers use. That program, Edison, is available for free through Verdiem's website, as of today. The program is designed for the Windows operating system and enhances its existing power settings.

"PCs are the hidden energy hogs of the home and most users have no idea that they are needlessly throwing away 80 percent of their PC's energy," said Kevin Klustner, Verdiem's President and CEO in a press release. "If just 1 percent of all PCs used Edison we could potentially reduce environmental impacts by 7 billion pounds of CO2, which is equal to taking more than a half million cars off the road. By finding ways to embed offsets in our daily life - even something as simple as downloading software - we will create permanent reductions in energy use and have a huge impact on our environment and resource sustainability."

Image — Verdiem