Are our gadgets polluting the planet?

by Dean Evans at Monday 18th May, 2009 at 12:03 pm [0 comments]

As our appetite for the latest digital technology (HD TVs, iPods, DAB radios, computers etc) continues to grow, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is warned that our love of consumer electronics could be ‘killing the planet’.

As the Telegraph reports, the IEA has claimed that the world will need the equivalent of 200 nuclear power stations by 2030 if our fondness for power-hungry gadgetry continues.

Why? Energy experts at the IEA have estimated that 1,700 terawatt hours of power will be required to run the world’s computers, HDTVs and games consoles. These power requirements are three times greater than today’s power consumption.

The overall cost of powering all of this technology will work out at around £130 billion a year. That’s more than the cost of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009. 

“Gadgets currently account for around 15 per cent of global domestic electrical consumption,” writes the Telegraph.

“In the UK, the Energy Savings Trust has projected that by 2020, gadgets will account for about 45 per cent of electricity used in British homes, with flat-screen televisions and digital radios among the most power-hungry devices.”

Of course, more energy efficient products will offset these sky-high power requirements. We’re already seeing eco-friendly improvements being made to new HD TVs plus a concerted effort to avoid leaving unused gadgets on standby.

How much juice do your average household gadgets require? The Telegraph has a handy list of tech-villains so you can see how much energy your new HD TV and Xbox 360 combo is using…

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