March 26, 2008 - Thin clients - computers than concentrate processing activities for many networked machines on a central server - can slash energy costs per workstation by as much as 81%, according to new research from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. The study, which compared power performance of thin clients against traditional commercial PCs, calculates that use of thin clients in Western Europe saved 160,000 metric tons of carbon emissions in 2007.

“Energy consumption when in operation was up to 50% lower than for conventional PCs,” says Dr. Hartmut Pflaum, the author of the study. “While PCs consume about 85 watts on average, thin clients including their server get by with 40 to 50 watts."

Given that thin clients currently account for just 10% of the commercial desktops in Western Europe, the potential for savings is actually much greater, the study suggests.