Western Digital has announced the GreenPower Initiative and launched new hard drives that consume less electricity. WD says that with the increase of hard drive capacities, the power required to run those drives increases as well. The new eco-friendly family will include drives ranging in size from 320GB to 1TB.

Currently available 1 TB hard drives have a typical power consumption rating greater than 13.5 watts. New Green Power drives saves 4-5 watts over competitors' drives and guarantees the same performance. Its important to remember: consuming less power lowers the electricity bill as well.