Giants from the world of technology have joined forces with global environmental groups to form the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI).

Intel, Google, Dell, HP, IBM and Microsoft will work with the Environmental Protection Agency, The World Wildlife Fund and more than a dozen other organisations to tackle global warming.

The goal of the broad-based environmental effort is to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting aggressive new targets for energy-efficient computers and components.

"The average desktop PC today wastes nearly half of its power, and the average server wastes one-third of its power," said Urs Holzle, senior vice president of operations at Google.

"The CSCI is setting a new 90 per cent efficiency target for power supplies which, if achieved, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million tons per year and save more than $5.5bn in energy costs."

The initiative is unique as it combines the demand and supply side of the computer industry, as well as environmental groups, energy companies, retailers and government agencies.

"We are asking businesses and individuals throughout the world to join with us to institute better power management of their computing equipment and to purchase energy-efficient computers," said Holzle.

The companies involved in the initiative will commit to building energy-efficient products that meet or surpass the EPA's Energy Star guidelines.

Businesses must also commit to requiring high efficiency systems for the majority of their corporate desktop PCs and volume server purchases, and to deploy and use power management tools on desktop PCs.

The CSCI energy efficiency benchmarks will initially follow the EPA's Energy Star guidelines; but with increasing requirements during the next few years.

For example, 2007 Energy Star specifications require that PC power supplies meet at least 80 per cent minimum efficiency whereas the new initiative would require a minimum of 90 per cent efficiency by 2010.

The CSCI also sets a higher efficiency target in the power supply for volume servers (1U and 2U single-socket and dual-socket systems) from 85 per cent to 92 per cent efficiency by 2010.

"By 2010, the CSCI will cut greenhouse gas emissions in an amount equal to removing more than 11 million cars from the road or shutting down 20 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants, a significant step in reducing the emissions affecting our planet," said Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group.

Individual consumers can also support the CSCI by signing up at the website, where they can pledge to purchase an initiative-certified system.

The website will also help consumers learn how to take advantage of their existing computer's power-saving capabilities, such as sleep and hibernate modes, which can reduce the amount of energy consumed by up to 60 per cent.