Eco laptops roll out at Defra

Gordon's government may be miles off its targets for CO2 cuts and renewables, but at least some departments are walking the green talk. Word reaches SmartPlanet that 10,000 staff at Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are to be kitted out with energy efficient laptops.

The move to laptops started in June and should be completed by the end of December. Helen Ghosh, Defra's permanent secretary, says that most carbon emissions are generated through the production of hardware.

She says the move will reduce the number of pieces of hardware any employee can have. Ghosh has a fixed personal computer in her office, a laptop for home use and a BlackBerry for mobile use. "In the new world," she says, "I will be able to have one item, which is a laptop which I shall carry to and from [work] on my bicycle and plug in at the office or carry home and use at home."

Staff will receive a Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (pictured) running Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software. Laptops, of course, have the green bonus of using around 70 per cent of the power of a desktop.

Defra is also testing the power-saving options within Vista, as well as instructing security guards to switch off machines that are left on without explanation.