Energy Efficiency

Intel has been involved in designing energy efficient products for many years and is an industry leader in energy reduction technologies for its microprocessor, chipset, and platform products. In the US, Intel has long been involved in the development of the Energy Star* program for computers. In fact, in 1993 Intel demonstrated the first Energy Star * compliant PC, powered by Intel technology.

Intel has ongoing programs to improve the power performance of its products for the laptop, desktop and server market segments. A few of the results from these initiatives are highlighted in the sections that follow.

Laptop Energy Reduction Technologies

Intel SpeedStep® Technology

In 2000, Intel introduced its Intel SpeedStep® technology that enables the processor to step its speed up or down depending on the application being run by the user and the need for processing power. Intel SpeedStep technology optimizes power consumption of the mobile device, resulting in extended battery life and overall power savings.

Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology

In 2003, Intel released its Pentium® M processor, Intel’s first mobile processor designed from the ground up for wireless laptop PCs. The Pentium® M processor combined with the Intel® 855 chipset family and the Intel® PRO/Wireless network connection make up the key building blocks of the Intel® Centrino® processor technology. The power management and energy efficiency features of the Intel Centrino processor technology result in a marked improvement in the environmental footprint of mobile processors. Traditionally, mobile processors were desktop processors retrofitted to serve mobile needs. Contrarily, the Pentium® M processor was designed specifically for laptop performance. A few of the key energy saving features of this mobile optimized design include:

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology which enables the processor to operate at multiple voltages and frequencies, dependent on the work load required by the user. As work load drops, the processor steps down to a lower voltage and frequency, conserving battery power.
A processor that includes a power-optimized system bus, with low-power L2 cache, which turns off parts of the high-speed memory when it’s not needed, resulting in an overall reduction in platform power consumption.
Lower power consumption in the LCD panel and Voltage Regulator, which together consume 40-50% of platform power.

As a result of these features, the new Intel Centrino processor technology improves both performance and battery life. For more information about Intel mobile technologies, including the Intel Centrino processor technology, please refer to: Mobile Developer Community.

Desktop Energy Reduction Technologies
Instantly Available PC

In 1999, Intel introduced its Instantly Available Personal Computer (IAPC) technology, allowing PCs to run more efficiently while reducing their energy use by up to 60%. The "sleep state" of IAPC technology has been reduced to less than 5 watts, even though the PC remains connected in this state and can perform tasks over a network or over the Internet. Most computers sold today utilize the IAPC technology.

More information on IAPC can be found at: http://developer.intel.com/technology/iapc/acpi/index.htm.

Power Supplies

Through Intel’s ongoing efforts to actively manage the power consumption of the microprocessor, under typical operating conditions, the microprocessor accounts for a small part of the overall desktop PC power. In fact, the power supply can consume up to 50% of the total system power for a desktop PC. Intel conducted research in this area and made two key observations:

Many desktop power supplies are only 50% efficient during normal operating conditions. That is, for every 100W of power pulled from the wall, only 50W are used to power the desktop system. The other 50W are dissipated in heat.
Power supplies are often designed to deliver optimal performance (maximum efficiency) at or close to full load. However, most desktop systems operate at less than 50% of full load under normal operating conditions.

Working with the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Intel made changes to its power supply design guidelines to encourage the development and adoption of more energy efficient power supplies. Intel recently received a Special Recognition Award * by the US EPA for these efforts. The US EPA estimates that the environmental impacts of achieving the Recommended targets established in the design guide would result in the following savings in the US alone:

Electricity savings of over 16 billion kilowatt hours per annually
Reduced carbon emissions of over 10 million tons CO2 annually
Cost savings to the end user of $1.25 billion annually
Reduce cost of ownership of a typical desktop PC by $50 over 3 years.

The ATX 12V Power Supply Design Guide is available on the web at: http://www.formfactors.org *.

The 1W Motherboard

Following an executive order from President Bush to encourage US government agencies to purchase electronic products that consume minimal power in their lowest power state, Intel has championed the "1-watt initiative" for its motherboard products. Previously, an Intel designed motherboard would use about 3 watts in its lowest power mode. Today, most new Intel boards enable the desktop to consume less than 1 watt in its lowest power mode. PCs with this feature use less power and generate less heat. Assuming sales of 12 million PCs:

123 million kilowatt-hours of energy will be saved,
202 million pounds of global warming gases will be eliminated,
Each end user will save $1 a year.

Links to the executive order and a list of PCs with their respective low power modes can be found at: http://oahu.lbl.gov/index.htm*.

Server Energy Reduction Technologies

Servers present unique challenges for power management. Although server systems may simply look like beefed-up PCs, the usage model and demand for computing power make their design and architecture very different. These requirements pose challenges for energy efficiency of servers and the facilities that host servers.

Intel continues to dedicate R&D resources towards studying and addressing the issue. One step toward a potential solution is developing greater energy efficiency of components and systems. Another is creating power-management technologies that enable businesses to allocate data centre resources more intelligently and with more ease. Intel is spearheading efforts to gain support in future server platforms and components to achieve the above-stated goals. These goals can be achieved by utilizing such technologies as: Demand-Based Switching (DBS), Automatic Control of Power Consumption (ACPC), and an Enterprise Power & Thermal Manager (EPTM). At the same time, Intel is urging hardware and software vendors to incorporate support for the technologies in their own products. The result is an average savings in power consumption of up to 30 percent depending on processor states, policy, and workloads - and even more if power-supply efficiency can be improved.

Environmental Health & Safety