Deutsche Telekom has its very own software download business, called Softwareload. It has also commissioned research that to show that junking hard copy software packages in favour of direct downloads could reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s software industry by 80 per cent.

“The ‘physical copy’ figure was attained by environment consultancy First Climate and was calculated accounting for transport and production factors throughout the supply chain typical when producing standard sized CD-ROMs (including manuals). The download figure was achieved using metrics such as server and computer power consumption. When comparing the two, CO2 emissions for downloads were proven to be 80 per cent lower.”

We know how good it feels to hold something tangible when you shell out money for software, but lets face it, the manuals are close to nonexistent these days (a one paragraph summary in 7 languages don’t help much,  and you usually lose the disks before you need it to do a reinstall.

Regardless if the real number is 80% or a smaller number, we have to agree that downloads are the way to go, but hold onto OS, and office disks and anything worth more then $100.

Philips LED 60 Watt Incandescent Equivalent

Both Philips and GE are due to come out with an LED replacement bulb for the still defacto standard 60 watt incandescent bulb.

Until then you can get the most efficient LEDs right here at Earth Love Machine.

The Philps ultra-efficient LED bulb, unveiled in Las Vegas at the Lightfair International, only uses 12 watts to operate. Due to be available to consumers by December, it is is dimmable and lasts 25 times longer than a traditional incandescent bulb. Philips claims the 12 Watt Endura LED bulb will provide a soft white light, but has not yet disclosed the actual Kelvin temperature, which determines the actual color — or warmth — the light produces.

GE’s upcoming Energy Smart LED bulb will last for 17 years and utilize only 9 watts. Below is a demo of the GE bulb on CNN.com

As a result of the mandate from Congress to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2012, lighting companies are scrambling to claim their share of the market. Last week Home Depot took the lead by introducing a replacement for 40 watt LED bulbs for only $20 and they are already on back order. According to Philips, if the 425 million 60 watt bulbs used in the U.S. each year are replaced by LED bulbs, the savings would amount to 32.6 terawatt-hours of power, enough to provide lights for 14 percent of the households in the nation.