Deploying power-efficient ADSL and DSL networking equipment could cut power...

involved chip vendors and suppliers of home gateways used to connect devices in the home to the Internet, it said. The first phase of the GREEN benchmark focused on three product categories, ETNO said: gateways already in wide use; reference designs optimized for reduced power consumption levels; and reference designs that weren’t enhanced to cut power consumption. Test results showed a “clear improvement trend,” ETNO said. Power use in the “best of class” ADSL home gateway was limited to 8.1 W in full power mode and 5 W in low power, well below EU target values, it said. For VDSL home gateways the best results were 7.5 W in full and 5.3 in low power modes, it said. By comparing the potential energy consumption difference between the best and worst in class to corresponding CO2 emissions savings, ETNO estimated that on the basis of 20 million deployed ADSL home gateways, efficiency improvements will result in a yearly reduction of CO2 emissions of around 568,000 tons. That’s equivalent to the emissions produced by more than 312,000 cars in a year, or the CO2 captured in 568,000 adult trees, it said. For VDSL, assuming five million deployed home gateways, the annual CO2 reduction is close to 275,000 tons, or the emissions or 142,000 cars, it said. A second phase of GREEN measurements is scheduled for later this year, ETNO said.