Energy...

Did you know that your home PC can account for up to 10% of your energy bill? Well, software company Verdiem has a new way to help you cut that cost and, as a result, reduce your carbon emissions.

Edison, a free download which Verdiem rolled out on Wednesday, helps to manage your PC's power consumption. After a period of inactivity, Edison puts your PC into "suspend" state, during which it will use less electricity. You can pick the amount of time you want Edison to wait, and also identify the hours when you use your computer the most.

Edison also calculates how much energy and money you are saving, and how much carbon you have kept from entering the atmosphere as a result.

How much will you save? Verdiem says the average is 410 kilowatt hours a year, which translates to about $36.50. Not too bad for a free program.

Edison requires 7MB of free disk space, and runs on Windows XP or Vista.

Got more than one PC? Verdiem also offers a power-management program for businesses called Surveyor. The Edison interface and download process includes ads for Surveyor, a paid product, to help inspire individual users to get their companies to buy the program.