全球聯網設備每年浪費800億美元電能

The next time you power on your television or game consoles, take a second to think about the waste associated with it.

大家下次給電視或遊戲機通電時，花點時間想想這些設備造成的浪費吧。

A report by the International Energy Agency, an organizations that advises developed nations, released on Wednesday did just that and the sum is astounding. Over $80 billion in power was spent unnecessarily in 2013 because of inefficiencies with the world’s 14 billion online electronic devices, including printers, gaming consoles and televisions.

上週三，爲發達國家提供建議的國際能源機構（International Energy Agency）公佈報告，分析了聯網設備造成的浪費，計算出的數額之大令人震驚。2013年，由於全球140億臺在線電子設備能效低下，導致800多億美元的電能白白浪費。這些設備包括打印機、遊戲機和電視機。

By 2020, that number is expected to climb to $120 billion as more devices like washing machines, light bulbs and refrigerators are connect online, according to the report.

這份報告還指出，到2020年，隨着洗衣機、電燈泡和冰箱等設備也紛紛聯網，這個數字預計將攀升至1200億美元。

“Electricity demand of our increasingly digital economies is growing at an alarming rate,” the report said. The IEA, which is based in Paris, found that devices consumed about 616 terawatt-hours of power in 2013. The catch? Most of that power was used while the devices were in standby mode.

報告指出，“在日益數字化的各大經濟體中，電力需求正在以驚人的速度增長。”總部設在巴黎的國際能源機構發現，各類設備2013年大約消耗了616太瓦時電能。問題在於，其中大部分電能是設備處於待機模式時消耗的。

“The problem is not that these devices are often in standby mode, but rather that they typically use much more power than they should to maintain a connection and communicate with the network,” said Maria Van der Hoeven, the IEA’s executive director, in a statement.

國際能源機構總幹事瑪麗亞o範德胡芬在聲明中稱：“問題不在於這些設備往往處於待機模式，而在於它們維持聯網狀態、與網絡通信所耗費的電能過多。”

The IEA also said that the idea of the standby option on a devise is a “misnomer.” While it “suggests that the device has gone to sleep and is almost off,” the agency found that’s not the case. “In reality, most network-enabled devices draw as much power in this mode as when activated to perform their main tasks,” theagency explained.

國際能源機構還表示，設備上的“待機”選項“名不副實”。“待機”聽起來感覺設備已經休眠，幾乎跟關機差不多。但國際能源機構發現，事實並非如此。該機構表示：“事實上，大多數可聯網設備在待機模式下與被激活執行主要任務時的能耗一樣大。”

“Just by using today’s best-available technology, such devices could perform exactly the same tasks in standby while consuming around 65 percent less power,” she added.

範德胡芬補充說：“通過採用當今最先進的技術，這類設備能在待機模式下執行完全一樣的任務，同時少消耗約65％的電能。”

To put it in perspective, the agency said that more efficient technologies could save the equivalent of over 600 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, or closing the doors on 200 coal-fired power plants.

國際能源機構稱，採用更高效技術所能節省的電能相當於減少6億多公噸二氧化碳排放，或關閉200座燃煤發電廠。