Web Extra Appendix: Implications of Historical Trends in the Electrical Efficiency of Computing
Jonathan Koomey, Stephen Berard, Marla Christine Sanchez, Henry Wong · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · 2011
Our goal for this analysis is an accurate general overview of trends in compute capabilities and power use over time, and for this purpose, the metric of computations per kWh is a reasonable one. We calculate this metric for dozens of different computers, ranging from laptop PCs to mainframes and integrated supercomputers. We rely on longterm performance trends developed in a consistent fashion as well as measured electricity use data for historical computers. The data and results from the analysis are summarized in Tables S1, S2, and S3.