Online banking firm First Direct has lopped 147 tonnes off its annual carbon emissions thanks to software that automatically switches off its host computer every night.

The firm reckons the move will also save it around £24,000 on its electricity bill now that the software has been deployed across two of its UK sites.

The average Brit has an annual carbon footprint of almost 11 tonnes of carbon, so the move is the equivalent of reducing the population of the British Isles by about 13 and a half. Still, every little bit helps, and we are not about to shoot a company down for doing a little bit to improve their green credentials.

After all, research from 1E, the software company that developed the NightWatchman software, has found that computers left on overnight are responsible for the emission of around 700,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

First Direct chief executive Chris Pilling commented: “We operate around 2,600 computers on these two sites and although we are a 24 hour business, many computers are not used at night. The installation of NightWatchman will reduce our electricity bill by tens of thousands of pounds and, vitally, it will reduce our carbon emissions by 147 tonnes – that’s the equivalent of running 42 family cars for a year.”