Canada - Computers get green through wind power

The winds of change are ushering in an era of environmentally friendly computing power. Calgary's Pembina Institute, a non-profit environmental organization, launched an initiative yesterday to run computers by wind power. Their aim is to power 20,000 computers by the end of 2005 which would cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 4,000 tonnes annually. "Canadians turn on about 14 million computers every day," said Marlo Reynolds, the Pembina Institute's executive director. "It's a simple way Canadians can take a small step in thinking about renewable energy and its efficiency." Vision Quest Windelectric, the nation's largest wind power producer, is working with Pembina to sell the electricity, which can be bought through www.pembina.org. Power will be sold in three-year chunks for about $5 a year for laptops and $10 a year for desktop computers.