Digital Power Unleashed

Easier Green Plug Implementation Options

Green Plug-enabled smart power adapters communicate with compatible electronic products so that all of them are able to power any device, regardless of voltage needs.  Our Greentalk^TM power protocol and Greenwire^TM multi-function physical layer let power supplies dynamically adapt to use patterns, saving energy.  The technology also reduces solid waste by allowing consumers to keep these smart power adapters and battery chargers for use with future products long after their current products have become obsolete.

What's New

Part of our technology (the Green Load Processor – GLP) exists on the product side and is licensed free of charge to strategic adopters.  The GLP offers a wide range of implementation choices that can be done for little or even no added BOM cost as a compilable macro for an existing chip in the product. 

Imagination Technologies, a leading provider of System-on-Chip (SoC) intellectual property (IP), is the first manufacturer to make Greentalk and Greenwire available in its core products.  That means any vendor that uses chips based upon the Imagination SoC can easily turn on the Green Plug functionality in its products without adding any parts or cost..  Green Plug makes money by selling a Green Power Processor (GPP) chip that provides power supply control and communication.  Vendors will sell smart power adapters using the GPP as a paid-for option to customers wanting to have a more functional, eco-friendly power solution for their electronic products.  Consumers will have the choice of getting the conventional power adapter at no charge or paying a premium for a better power adapter or smart power hub.

Green Plug is talking with several popular chip companies that make chips that go inside many electronic products about incorporating the free product-side IP into their chips.  This will give vendors even more choices for turning on the Green Plug functionality without adding new components or increasing BOM costs.

 

'I Want My Green Plug' Launches

Today, we're extremely excited to announce the launch of an online, grassroots effort called I Want My Green Plug. 

And, we're putting the future of how consumer electronics are powered in your hands.

Without the voice of the consumer -- without your voice -- consumer electronic companies won't be motivated to change the current standard of external power supplies. And as we've mentioned before, it's not only madness to have to use a different power adapter for all of your electronics -- it is also extraordinarily wasteful.

So. Here's how you can make a difference.

By submitting your vote on iwantmygreenplug.com, you're sending a powerful, positive message to the consumer electronics industry. You're voting for an end to power cord chaos, and for open standards that eliminate the need for multiple power adapters for consumer electronics. At the same time, you're voting against waste, and taking concrete action to help the environment.

If this is important to you, if you own multiple electronic devices (like a laptop, cell phone, iPod, printer, router)and care about the future of our planet, then please take 3 minutes and vote. Then go tell 10 friends.

Without you, this change won't happen.

We sincerely thank you, and will keep you updated on the progress.

US-China Green Energy Conference ‘08: Fueling the Future

We're proud to announce that Green Plug CEO, Frank Paniagua, Jr., will be speaking at the US-China Green Energy Conference in Beijing, on November 16-18, 2008.

The US-China Green Energy Council (UCGEC) brings together leading clean energy specialists from business, government, and academia from both the U.S. and China. The San Francisco Bay Area, Beijing, and Shanghai are rapidly becoming the global centers for clean energy technology promotion, development, and investment, and there are enormous gains to be achieved through enhanced collaboration between the regions.

On Tuesday, November 18th, Frank will be joined by the following esteemed Green IT panelists:

• Fei Zonglian, Chief Engineer (Former), Ministry of Machinery & Electronics Industries, China
• Jian-Yue Pan, Corporate Vice President, Synopsys
• Jack Shu, Vice President, HP
• David Sung, President, Greater China,VMware
• Doug Oathout, Director of Energy Efficiency Offerings, IBM

The mission of this conference is to kick-start long-term collaboration between clean energy policymakers, researchers, businesspersons, and investors in the two countries.

It also:

represents the first time that leaders in four communities – business, technology, academia, and government policy – from both China and the United States will come together to discuss energy issues of mutual interest.

Interestingly, China was the first country to regulate a standard for cell phone chargers (PDF).  In 2007 China passed a law that stated that if a company wanted to sell a cell phone in China it had to be equipped with a charger with a USB interface. 

What a Waste: Billions of External Power Supplies Sitting in Landfills

Seattle artist and former corporate lawyer Chris Jordan has taken it upon himself to create art in images that make it easy to visualize and understand the aftermath of our consumer culture.  Chris recently spoke  here in San Francisco.

I wish I had the chance to thank him personally for taking this photograph at a dump in Atlanta. To me, it is the most powerful way to convey the wastefulness of the current method of powering consumer electronics. You can read more about his recent exhibit in San Francisco and see more of Chris' work, here.

The numbers are staggering: according to Gartner, this year 3.2 billion external power supplies will be  manufactured worldwide.  Meanwhile, approximately two billion of them will go into landfill. As our CEO Frank Paniagua pointed out, 379 million external power supplies will go in landfills in 2008 in the U.S. alone. As the number of cell phones, iPods, laptops and other consumer electronic products that are manufactured each year continues to grow, older models (and their external power supplies) will become obsolete, be discarded, and continue to threaten the future of our planet.