Last week the New York Times featured an article and graphic (via) illustrating the way in which the increasing energy efficiency of electricity-drawing technologies correlates with an increase in overall use of energy nonetheless due to a rise in our consumption of those technologies.
But, “Americans now have about 25 consumer electronic products in every household, compared with just three in 1980”:
One culprit of the rising electricity use is video game consoles:
Noah Horowitz, at the Natural Resources Defense Council, calculated that the nation’s gaming consoles, like the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Sony PlayStation 3, now use about the same amount of electricity each year as San Diego, the ninth-largest city in country.
But an even bigger culprit are those giant plasma screen TVs:
The energy-efficiency of video game consoles and televisions are both unregulated, compared to the efficiency of those appliances showing increasing energy efficiency in the first figure (refrigerators, air conditioners, and clothes washers).
So, consumption, overall, is going up:
The corporations that build TVs, game consoles, and other unregulated appliances are, of course, resisting any federal laws regarding their efficiency. According to the article, there was little will under the Bush administration. We will have to wait and see what happens now.
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 10
Sabriel — September 25, 2009
Not to mention that constantly upgrading to new technology causes a lot of waste.
Annoyed — September 25, 2009
who labels lighting, heating, and hot water as a gadget? In fact, in the chart that says we have more gadgets, I don't see anything I would consider a gadget except maybe a computer (which is still pretty necessary) and that is at 1%
Richard Craig — September 25, 2009
Well it is very interesting to note that even with television / monitors there is the perception that "size" matters.
An old 32" cathode ray tube consumes less. Why is that? Is it more efficient overall or is it because it is that much smaller than than the 42" plasma, the 46 LCD and the 50" projection screens?
Very valid / interesting comment above from Sabriel. "Consume and toss" seems to be the theme for our western culture. What's even scarier is that eastern cultures are catching on to us. This has got to end soon!
technology — September 26, 2009
Sociological images provided by this article seemed for me is quite interesting,it deals with great information.
T B — September 26, 2009
Here's how these issues are framed in certain circles -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevon%27s_paradox
Some people think that it is inevitable that increased consumption will follow enhanced technological efficiencies like those raised here; for people with such views, these trends -- addressed in this Sociological Images post, and in the Jevon's paradox concept -- basically are a force of natural that cannot be changed. Human nature certainly is a factor, but so are the societal structures and dynamics that push people towards more and more consumption -- of energy, and a lot more. People who naturalize the inclinations towards increasing consumption lack sociological awareness and understanding, and they are incapable of conceiving of societal change. Believe it or not, some of those people compare human beings to yeast or bacteria that endlessly expands, without any possible societal curbs (e.g. shared norms); I know of examples of people who have made claims like that while talking with me.
There are some relevant points here (e.g. in the comments) -
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1154#more-1154
hypatia — September 27, 2009
Here is a good article on the specs (current and upcoming) for the voluntary Energy Star program. http://www.electronichouse.com/article/the_energy_whip_comes_out_on_tvs/ Apparently California is going to start regulating how much energy a TV can use.
I do have a nitpick with the article however, plasma and LCD are not "new", in fact plasma is downright ancient by tech standards. New technology in TVs is LED, and it is in fact more efficient (and longer lasting) than both plasma and LCD, but at the moment, it's not cheap.
Personally I am surprised how little computers are using up, my computer is smaller than (most) TVs but it is on a heck of a lot longer.
Carbon offsets are bullshit « The Tiny Ouroboros — October 19, 2009
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