Energy efficiency

Computer power supplies are generally about 70–75% efficient.[3] That means in order for a 75% efficient power supply to produce 75 W of DC output it would require 100 W of AC input and dissipate the remaining 25 W in heat. Higher-quality power supplies can be over 80% efficient; higher energy efficient PSU's waste less energy in heat, and requires less airflow to cool, and as a result will be quieter. Google's server power supplies are more than 90% efficient.[2] HP's server power supplies have reached 94% efficiency.[4] Standard PSUs sold for server workstations have around 90% efficiency, as of 2010.
It's important to match the capacity of a power supply to the power needs of the computer. The energy efficiency of power supplies drops significantly at low loads. Efficiency generally peaks at about 50-75% load. The curve varies from model to model (examples of how this curve looks can be seen on test reports of energy efficient models found on the 80 PLUS website). As a rule of thumb for standard power supplies it is usually appropriate to buy a supply such that the calculated typical consumption of one's computer is about 60% of the rated capacity of the supply provided that the calculated maximum consumption of the computer does not exceed the rated capacity of the supply. Note that advice on overall power supply ratings often given by the manufacturer of single component, typically graphics cards, should be treated with great skepticism. These manufacturers wish to minimise support issues due to under rating the power supply and are willing to advise customers to overrate it to avoid this.
Various initiatives are underway to improve the efficiency of computer power supplies. Climate savers computing initiative promotes energy saving and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging development and use of more efficient power supplies. 80 PLUS certifies power supplies that meet certain efficiency criteria, and encourages their use via financial incentives. On top of that the businesses end up using less electricity to cool the PSU and the computer's themselves and thus save an initially large sum(i.e. incentive + saved electricity = higher profit).