Having recently blogged about the growing number of green electronic products that were at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the great things that original equipment maker, Fujitsu Siemens is doing.

The latest news from them have been about their Esprimo Green PCs, which are due to launch in March 2009. This is a new line of PCs that are addressing the thorny problem of vampire energy loss – the energy that electronic devices use when they're turned off, in sleep or in standby mode. Appliances and electronic devices are typically plugged in all the time and most of them draw power for functions like displays, indicators, clocks, even when powered off.

Viewed in meta-terms, vampire energy loss is a major source of electricity waste. The US Department of Energy estimates that it accounts for between 5 and 8 percent of a single-family home's total electricity use per year, some 68 billion kilowatt-hours of essentially wasted electricity.

Fujitsu Siemens is really working on the problem. Their new Esprimo PCs will draw zero power when in standby mode, while still allowing a network system administrator to start up and manage the computer remotely as needed. The PCs are expected to be generally available in the summer of 2009.

For more on vampire energy usage, check out my post from a few months back with links to more resources.

Fujitsu Zero-Watt LCD Computer Monitor

But that's not all. The Fujitsu ScenicView ECO LCD computer monitors have already arrived, at least in Europe. The main one is the 20-inch P20W-5 ECO and there is also the 22-inch P22W-5 ECO. Both automatically switch off in stand-by mode and draw no electricity, but immediately power up when they detect a computer signal. The ScenicView ECO monitors also have something called DisplayView AutoBright functionality, which automatically adjusts brightness in keeping with ambient light, which provides additional energy savings. These devices are aimed at the business rather than the consumer market and the 20-inch monitor sells for around $340 US (or £233 pounds or €266 Euros).

All these devices are apparently part of Fujitsu Siemens' master plan, announced in November 2007, "to be the first IT vendor to completely move to energy-efficient products without additional expense to customers." It has also launched Pervasive Green, an environmental management system to cut waste and prevent pollution at two of its largest facilities in California and New York. Kudos to the company for looking forward for a greener tech future.