Michael Dell has announced a global carbon-neutral initiative that will see the firm plant trees for customers to offset the carbon impact of electricity required to power their systems.

Dell is partnering with The Conservation Fund and the Carbonfund.org, non-profit organisations that will use the funds to plant trees in sustainably managed forests, absorbing carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere from generated electricity.

The company says 100 per cent of the donations received by its 'Plant a Tree for Me' programme will be used by partners to plant trees.

'The customer experience starts with receiving the best value and continues with the knowledge that we are working with our customers to protect the environment throughout the life of their system,' said Michael Dell, chairman of Dell.

'Programmes like "Plant a Tree for Me" and our global recycling efforts empower our customers to participate with us in making a difference. It is our hope that other companies in our industry will join us to improve the environment that we all share.'

A customer donation of $2 (£1) for a notebook and $6 (£3) for a desktop will contribute towards the planting of trees which will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, offsetting the equivalent emissions resulting from the production of electricity used during the average three-year life-span of a computer.

The programme is available now to Dell’s US consumer customers making new computer purchases. It will be available to global consumers in April.

Dell recently announced it had exceeded its five-year goal to use 50 per cent recycled content by 2009. The company estimates the increased recycled content paper is avoiding the use of nearly 35,000 tons of virgin fibre paper per year.

information on Dell’s approach to environmental leadership, links to in-depth information on environmental programmes and policies can be found at www.dell.com/earth

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For more on green computing visit: www.computing.co.uk/greencomputing