Some 11 per cent of all the electricity used in German homes and offices is
wasted by electrical devices that are sitting idle. A study by the government’s
Federal Environment Office in Berlin calculates that shutting down computers,
telephones, televisions and water heaters when they are not in use would save
more electricity in a year than is consumed by the city of Berlin. It would also
cut German emissions of carbon dioxide by 1 per cent.
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