The International Energy Agency released a report this week warning that computers and consumer electronics now account for 15% of total residential electricity usage, and that usage and demand is swiftly increasing. As Earth2Tech's Katie Fehrenbacher notes, "if governments don't implement new policies to make sure that consumer electronics makers are putting in place the most energy-efficient systems, the world's gadgets will suck up 1,700 terawatt-hours by 2030, at a cost of $200 billion in energy bills." The IEA report urges countries to pass regulations requiring higher energy efficiency standards for laptops, cell phones, and televisions.
Not surprisingly, the report struck a nerve. We're highly dependent on consumer electronics to keep informed, communicate, and conduct business from the location of our choice or need. Most of these devices are relatively efficient and, as Ana Campoy of the Wall Street Journal points out, fuel saving, because telecommuters don't burn gas. Nevertheless, the report warns that energy used by computers and consumer electronics will double by 2022, and increase threefold by 2030. The sheer volume of personal electronic devices on the planet already is staggering and shows no sign of slowing. As the New York Times reported:
The study found that the number of people using personal computers will exceed 1 billion over the next seven months and notes that nearly 2 billion television sets are already in use worldwide, averaging more than 1.3 sets in each home with access to electricity. The agency also projects that the world will count more than 3.5 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2010.
It is noteworthy that makers of some of these devices have met with market-driven demand to increase efficiency while others have felt no such need. Battery life in cell phones and shorter charging times are critical differentiators, so efficiency is built into these products. Flat screen televisions, not so much. Our organization, happily enough, relies primarily on Apple computers, which have made good strides on energy consumption and power management. But challenges remain.
It doesn't make sense to rely on the devices themselves to provide adequate energy efficiency measure to compensate for the surge in volume that IEA cites. Other measures can be undertaken now, including off-peak usage, energy storage and, immediately, reducing vampire energy usage with the use of smart power strips. We have established that we are impatient cusses. IEA's report points out a fresh concern for the home energy efficiency watch list. We'd like to start to take it on now.
Comments
My company used to be named Consumer Electronics HQ, now we're DigitalAdvisor.com, and I can say for sure, the consumer electronics business is pretty much all about deception. Nothing against Apple (who actually appears to care), or even any of the others, but this is a low-margin business, so every penny "saved" is a penny earned.
Take plasma TVs vs LCDs -- plasmas are HUGE energy hogs, and this is especially true because plasma has the (up front) cost advantage over LCD in the "massive" size categories (45" and larger). LCD is far more efficient, but has a sort of lingering perception with buyers that it's not "as good". The truth is, any issues with LCD were worked out over two years ago, and they are better or as good as plasma in all respects today. So two questions: 1) why do you "need" a 50" TV when a 27" one was the biggest you could get just a few years ago, and 2) see #1, as my wife and I are very content with our 26" LCD TV -- now classified as a "bedroom" model (apparently not good enough for our living room).
Remember, plasma or LCD: the amount of electricity used increases greatly as size gets larger -- approximately a squared function for those of you who remember your high-school math.
But the vampire power is the real killer, and the one that burns me up so much. Most electronics have a "transformer" that changes voltage from the amount you get from the plugs in the wall to a much lower voltage that can be used by your computer, TV, phone and everything else. The telltale sign of the transformer is a "brick" -- the big, honkin' block that you plug in and which sucks your electricity, continuously (hence the "vampire transformer" reference).
Vampires can suck between 6 and 18 watts, simply by being plugged in. They don't have to be doing anything (charging your phone, speakers, etc.) -- just plugged in. Feel them -- are they warm? If so, they are vampires.
Smart Strips are a good solution, but there's an even better one: there's a new kind of transformer that does exactly the same job as the vampires, called "switch mode transformers" -- they use almost no electricity. It seems that most of Apple's products come with them, now, for example.
And why don't all consumer electronics use switch mode transformers? Remember how I said the consumer electronics business was low-margin? Well, the extra $0.90 to $1.50 that a switch-mode transformer costs could well be the entire profit from that that cheapo $26 wireless phone you just bought.
(I know: I recently bought a set with three "stations" each with a vampire transformer that runs at about 8 watts, each. For me, the electricity cost of 24 watts, all the time, is about $28/year.) And that saved me $3 on the purchase of my phones. Not a good deal.
Vampire power is mostly avoidable. We need to get on the cases of the cheapo manufacturers who ship old-technology transformers. And we should also make replacement switch-mode transformers available to consumers.
Look at the numbers! It's completely doable to reduced the demand on our electricity grid by using switch-mode transformers, and SmartStrips, If your electricity rates are as high as mine are, in New England, the cost is worth it. If your electricity rates are not as high as they are in New England, you might want to wonder if they shouldn't be.
If you followed my last point, support the cap and trade bill now in Congress. It is a good solution that would let the market make all these bad decisions made by consumer electronics companies turn into good ones. And also, support Apple, Google and others who say "Let's do what's right first, then focus on profits".
Posted by Tom Harrison on May 18, 2009 6:21pm