IT has more impact on the environment than the entire global aviation industry, claims a Swedish research outfit.

TCO Development reckons that more efficient use of IT could reduce the climate impact by more than 80%.

'The 1000 million computer monitors that are in use all over the world generate 53 million tons of CO2, and need as much electric power as the yearly consumption of Sweden,' says Haakan Nordin, Project Manager for Climate and Environment at TCO Development.

'This clearly shows that the use of IT products has a negative impact on the environment, but also that by changing the way we use these products, we can be part of the solution.'

TCO lists a number of steps that could reduce the climate impact from computers.

When choosing computer equipment, check its power consumption in active mode. An energy efficient desktop PC uses up to 65% less energy than a standard desktop PC. If energy efficient notebooks are compared with advanced desktop PCs used for CAD/CAM the difference is over 1,000%.

65% of the CO2 emissions attributed to computers are from those that do not have energy save functions activated. The simplest solution is to use notebook computer settings, even when using a desktop.

TCO also recommends turning off computers when they are not in use, which seems a tad obvious. But they are also suggesting that machines are turned off when people go to make a cup of tea as well. The cost to productivity while they wait for the machines to power up again is not quantified.

The research also shows that the environmental impact of using PCs is roughly the same as the entire country of Sweden, so abolishing either of these would be a big help to global warming.

But which to choose? X