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This is an interesting point. I always used to think back in the late 90s how the AmigaOS was so much more efficient in terms of the hardware it could run on (and thus by definition more energy efficient) and therefore how it presented a better future than the Intel/Windows route that was being taken at that time. I honestly thought that if people could see what little resource it was able to work within then it would present a brighter future in terms of both computer life times and also just more efficient energy use. But as with history, the better product doesn't not always win out.

Your point about keeping old Macs alive is therefore extremely valid (although equally my PowerMac G5 isn't exactly power efficient) in much the same way as we can argue that keeping old cars on the road longer is actually more efficient as the energy costs involved in production are so significant at the beginning of a cars life cycle. I certainly look at my MiniMac G4 and by PowerBook G4 and think its amazing that I am able to do modern tasks on these machines that are both well over a decade old.