Power hungry gadgets suck up energy

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]The UK's addiction to power hungry gadgets could push up average household energy bills by £100 each year and stall progress to cut greenhuse gas emissions according to a new article in the Observer (24 May). The proliferation of plasma TVs, mobiles, bigger and more powerful PCs and laptops and MP3 players is causing energy consumption to soar - and these devices currently account for 25% of an average household's energy - and this could rise to 45% by 202. Around the world energy consumption from information technologies is growing at an alarming rate and although there are a fair few myths about (each google search does not use the amount of energy to boil a kettle) studies from the Energy Savings Trust (EST) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) both show how our addiction to gadgets might become in the fight against climate change. The increasing number of gadgets and our desire for bigger and better versions of things like TVs and PCS with bigger memories and massive graphics cards has increased power demands - and despite improvements in the effciency of electronic devices, the savings are "likely to be overshadowed by the rising demand for technology". I have repeated my blog on this earlier this month below.Did you know that it is quite possible by 2010 that the biggest users of electricity in our homes will be the gadget (see www.tinyurl.com/2010gadgets ) and everything from mobile phones to lap tops to MP3 players do, of course, need energy. Now somethings, like wind up radios and torches are pretty energy efficient, just neededing  a tiny bit of human effort.  But every thing else either needs mains poweer or a battery. We throw 600 million batteries away every year - nasty toxic things - so rechargable reusable AA batteries are a simple and far eco-friendlier solution. You can even get rechargable bateries which plug into your USB port on a laptop - very funky. But even these batteries still need energy and in gadget land everything else needs power - and massive amounts of it when its ball added together. So, what is the greenest way to recharge gadgets? Well firstly try and get a gadget with low energy use - they vary dramatically - and you can compare mobile phone charger efficiency for example at www.tinyurl.com/mobchargers. There are 'eco friendly' chargers too for mobiles  - wind powered and solar powered (Solio, Freeloader, Solar Monkey)  so have a look at them too - at the Glastonbury Fetsival last year a number of living pods came with a built in eco-mobile charger. With laptops make sure you look for a lap top with a long lasting battery - and even when it is finished - try and recycle the battery - rechargable batteries in Nokias and Macbooks can be recycled. New fuel cells might be the future and the recently developed new generfation of silver zinc latop batteries might be a green solution - but in tne meantime that old mantra - reduce - reuse - recycle - still holds true in gadget land. Switch of a gadget or charger when not in use - reuse batteries - and recycle what you cant reuse.Observer 24/05/09 page 14 News (by Alok Jha) and see the article by Adam Vaughan in the Observer Magazine (Ethical Living) 26th April 2009Did you know that it is quite possible by 2010 that the biggest users of electricity in our homes will be the gadget (see www.tinyurl.com/2010gadgets ) and everything from mobile phones to lap tops to MP3 players do, of course, need energy. Now some things, like wind up radios and torches are pretty energy efficient, just needing  a tiny bit of human effort.  But every thing else either needs mains power or a battery. We throw 600 million batteries away every year - nasty toxic things - so rechargable reusable AA batteries are a simple and far eco-friendlier solution. You can even get rechargable bateries which plug into your USB port on a laptop - very funky. But even these batteries still need energy and in gadget land everything else needs power - and massive amounts of it when its ball added together. So, what is the greenest way to recharge gadgets? Well firstly try and get a gadget with low energy use - they vary dramatically - and you can compare mobile phone charger efficiency for example at www.tinyurl.com/mobchargers. There are 'eco friendly' chargers too for mobiles  - wind powered and solar powered (Solio, Freeloader, Solar Monkey)  so have a look at them too - at the Glastonbury Festival last year a number of living pods came with a built in eco-mobile charger. With laptops make sure you look for a lap top with a long lasting battery - and even when it is finished - try and recycle the battery - rechargable batteries in Nokias and Macbooks can be recycled. New fuel cells might be the future and the recently developed new generation of silver zinc latop batteries might be a green solution - but in tne meantime that old mantra - reduce - reuse - recycle - still holds true in gadget land.Switch of a gadget or charger when not in use - reuse batteries - and recycle what you cant reuse.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]