Zonbu – the first zero-emissions personal computer

August 21st, 2007

Zonbu – the first zero-emissions personal computer

Zonbu

Zonbu is a small, small like the mac mini, personal computer. But what’s special about the Zonbu is not that it’s so small, it’s that it’s the first zero-emission personal computer.

Zonbu runs on a linux platform with a 1.2 gigahertz processor, 512 meg of RAM and a 4 gigabyte flash card. That’s plenty to satisfy the majority of ordinary computer users.

This small environmental friendly computer consumes six times less power than a standard (energy wasting) light bulb. Did I mention the price tag for this beauty? Zonbu only costs $250 dollars.

But nothing is perfect in the real world. In order to get more storage space you need to subscribe to the Zonbox service. Zonbox will provide you with software and firmware updates and up to 100 gigs of storage space. It will even offset your Zonbu usage. Zonbox costs $12.95. Keep in mind that if you are currently using an older computer you can actually save those money off your utility bill when you have purchased Zonbu (older computers uses more energy).

About Simon Leufstedt

Simon Leufstedt is the founder and editor of Green Blog – an environment blog with authors from around the world. He is also the admin of Enviro Space - a place to meet, discuss and interact with other people who share your interests and ideas. Simon has previously studied Global Environmental Justice and is currently busy working with the Swedish TckTckTck organisation and learning everything there is to know about Human Ecology at the Lund University in Sweden. You can follow Simon on Twitter.

View all posts by Simon Leufstedt →

Simon

Susan: This is what Zonbu says on their website:

We provide a free take-back program to recycle your used Zonbu device responsibly. E-waste is fast becoming a global health hazard — worldwide, it's between 20 and 50 million tons of e-waste that is dumped in landfills and incinerators every year. We are determined that no Zonbu device contributes to the problem. When you upgrade to a new Zonbu device or you're finished using your current one, simply return it to us and we'll foot the bill for dismantling and recycling all the components. Send it in your original packaging, and we'll recycle that too. All components of our packaging are earth friendly.

http://www.zonbu.com/learn/green.htm
Susan

This is great. I would like to see what type of recycling efforts they have in plan for when these computers become old. If they have something in plan, that would be a truly great effort.
Stew

The Zonbu represents an entirely new and relatively radical departure from regular computing models. The power efficiency of the PC itself means that it will use a great deal less power than your average PC. This saves the consumer money and also reduces carbon emissions. They will also recycle the PC for you at the end of its life, which is way more than most PC companies. I think the Zonbu is cool in that it dares to challenge the way we use our computers. The subscription may be a sticking-point for some but not having local storage i.e. dispensing with the hard drive is essential to delivering its ultra low power draw. It also mean that it offers the user far more secure data storage. If your data is uploaded to a server it cannot be lost, stolen or corrupted.

You can read my blog which also covers the Zonbu and it's relative benefits at www.technovoyance.com

Bravo Zonbu.
Luis

Great post!

If the economics don't work, recycling efforts won't either.
As our little contribution to make this economics of recycling more appealing, LivePaths.com blogs about people and companies that make money selling recycled or reused items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources.
Joel from Life Goggles

With 60% of computer power usage coming from the monitor, it would be great to be able to use one of these in conjunction with a real power sving monitor. The $100 laptop project, whilst is might not yet cost $100, has some very innovative power saving features on the monitor.
only_green_no_gray

This are great news. Finally a computer that besides been green can be bought by a larger number of people due to his price

blog comments powered by Disqus

Comment Guideline

Comments with profanity, personal attacks or objectionable material will be edited or deleted. Feel free to refute someone's points or offer counter arguments, but please do not engage in name calling.

Green Community

If you want to discuss this topic (or any other issue) even further you could always join Enviro Space, our green community. Come and meet new people, discuss various topics and make new friends that share your interests.