Power down PCs to save millions, gov't told

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is urging public sector workers to turn off their PCs overnight to slash carbon emissions and cost.

The OGC is the Treasury office responsible for driving efficiency in public sector spending and says switching PCs off during non-work hours could cut carbon emissions by 55,723 tonnes per year across the public sector.

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

The campaign is being led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and includes a cross government deal to use a tech tool called NightWatchman from a company called 1E.

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

OGC CEO, 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.