AMD Applauds Senate Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Authorize EPA to Study and Analyze Growth and Energy Consumption of Computer Data Centers

AMD applauded final congressional passage of H.R. 5646, bipartisan legislation that directs that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study and promote the use of energy efficient servers. Co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Michael Rogers (R-MI) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) as well as U.S. Senators George Allen (R-VA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and championed by leading associations in the high technology, energy efficiency and business sectors, the EPA study will provide the data and analysis to help cultivate the purchase of energy efficient server technology by government and enterprise customers. The bill was passed by the Senate on December 7th and will be sent to President Bush for his signature within the next ten days.

"As a leader in innovation and energy-efficient computing, AMD is dedicated to bringing low-power, high-performance products to our customers,” said Sue Snyder, AMD vice president of international policy & relations and executive legal counsel. “We are grateful to Congress for its leadership in cultivating more energy-efficient solutions that should yield cost savings for taxpayers nationwide.”

The bill concludes that the rising need for datacenters is due to the expansion of the Internet and web-based applications, as well as increasing electronic transactions. Most datacenter equipment is composed of servers, a segment of the IT market that industry analysts expect to grow in the U.S. from 2.8 million units ($20.7 billion) in 2005 to 4.9 million units ($25.1 billion) in 2009—at a rate of almost 50 percent in five years according to a recent IDC U.S. forecast that examined growth from 2005 to 2009. 1

“Given the rising power demands of datacenters and the costs associated with power consumption, our customers naturally want to ensure that they are using the most energy efficient servers that provide the best performance and value at the least risk to the environment,” said Steve Kester, manager, AMD Government Relations.

AMD has a long-standing commitment to lowering power consumption. Its Cool’n’Quiet™ technology, the industry’s first power management solution for desktop PCs, reduces power consumption and system noise on PCs. Additionally, AMD PowerNow!™ technology first allowed customers to deliver cooler, quieter-running notebook systems with extended system battery life.

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