Armageddon or Entertainment – Plasma & LCD TVs versus the Ice Caps?
It is probably obvious that if you have a 50" Sony Vega Wide-Screen, a 42" Samsung Plasma Screen with DNIE and Trusound or indeed any super PDP, DLP or LCD television then it is going to have a much bigger Carbon footprint than your old Cathode Ray Tube job. Does this mean we should all be responsible citizens and save the environment by watching TV on our on our LG Prada mobile phones?
In May this year a professor of the 'economics of climate change' called for the taxing of certain high energy output home devices. Included along with our beloved entertainment systems where patio heaters.
Now clearly I am biased because as you can tell if you read my blog, I love the world of new technological digital visual and audio recreation. In fact for me a Friday night watching Legolas the Elven super hero archer, surf the battlements while shooting double arrows at the evil Orcs in full high definition(HD) glory, a beer in one hand (me not Legolas), the kids snacking on sweets in a total trance at the full glory and apparent reality of events, is better than almost anything.
So I will now try and defend our beloved Plasma and LCD screens.
The first thing to say is that all PDP, LCD, DLP manufacturers are aware of the problem and are already making TVs that are far more efficient than they used to be. This is an ongoing process. Plasma is a bit more to blame than the other technologies but interestingly it is these screens(the worst offenders) that might hold the key to the environmental solution.OLED or Organic Light Emitting Diode is a technology, which as the name suggests uses partly organic substances which when arranged in a matrix can be used to project pixels of all colours for a much lower energy consumption level. The current problem with OLED is that the products have a significantly reduced lifespan compared to Liquid Crystal Screens etc. But the technology is still in development and will likely play a part in the solution to the large Carbon footprint problem of current TV technology.
Approximately a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) conventional set costs around £25 a year to run and equates to about 100kg of Carbon Dioxide. A Plasma TV costs about a £100 a year and accounts for about 400kg of CO2 . If you consider the size difference between Plasma and CRT then depending upon how you do the sums you can actually account for all the increased Carbon footprint in the size of the screen. We could therefore, if we wanted, blame the size and not the specific technology. Clearly I am twisting the facts to fit my argument, but so is the professor who called for the tax.
Let us assume that the professor got his way and a significant tax was introduced. This could dramatically reduce the popularity of big screen TVs. This would have the knock on effect of dramatically reducing investment in in the newer power saving technologies. DOHH!
What Might Be More Sensible
There are lots of things we can all do to help the problem without spoiling our fun. We can all turn the Plasma or LCD Screens off at the plug when not in use (except when removing screen burn). Of course we can do this with many of our electrical appliances. And of course going beyond our electrical stuff there is plenty more that we as individuals can do. For example a measly 500 miles in a 2.5 litre car gives off more Carbon Dioxide than a Plasma TV could in a year. We could also perhaps wear a jumper when on the patio if its a bit chilly.
So lets just be sensible about this and not throw stones at each others glass houses (Professor Ekins) especially when there's a sexy 50” Plasma with Trusound and all the other bits in the house, that might get hit as well.
Elite Integrity is a professor in economics and environmental studies with a PHD in global manufacturing and development processes.
Oh OK maybe I'm not but I do have a GCSE in wood work!
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