The IT industry-backed Climate Savers Computing Initiative wants to double PC energy efficiency within three years.

Around half of the electricity used by desktop systems is wasted as heat. Servers are only slightly more efficient, wasting around a third of their electrical power.

The CSCI scheme, launched by Intel and Google today, aims to work with power supply manufacturers to improve efficiency to 65 per cent within a year, and continue developments until PCs make use of 90 per cent of the electricity they draw. The target for servers is 93 per cent.

'The result we hope to achieve is to reduce the carbon footprint and also decrease the total cost of ownership for consumers,' said Google technical programme manager Eric Teetzel.

The second strand of the initiative is to encourage people to use make the most of systems' 'power management' capabilities.

Simply turning on the power management function can cut PC electricity consumption by 60 per cent, says Intel vice president Gordon Graylish.

'Increasing energy efficiency by 50 per cent would save around E4bn (£2.7bn) and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 54 million tones a year – equivalent to 11 million cars, 12 coal-fired power stations or planting 25,000 square miles of trees,' said Graylish.

The initiative was launched in the US with backing from a range of organisations including the World Wildlife Fund, Dell, EDS and eBay. European companies are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, says Graylish.