Gov't eyes £10m savings from switched-off PCs

The Office of Government Commerce has urged public-sector workers to turn off their PCs overnight to help cut carbon emissions and costs.

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is the Treasury office responsible for driving efficiency in public-sector spending. The OGC said switching PCs off during non-work hours could cut carbon emissions by 55,723 tonnes per year across the public sector.

In addition, the practice could save up to £10.2m annually in power costs if all government departments take it up.

The campaign is being led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and includes a cross-government deal to use the NightWatchman power-management technology from 1E.

NightWatchman automatically shuts PCs down during non-working hours and can monitor daily PC power consumption and carbon emissions.

OGC chief executive Nigel Smith said the campaign will play a "small but important part in meeting the government's sustainability targets".

Separately, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has opted to upgrade its 10,000 PCs to Windows Vista, which includes a PC-hibernating feature.