Opinion: Television isn’t the problem; you are
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If you’ve forgotten Warren Swil’s Op-Ed on the hidden power of Sleep Mode from back in October, here’s a refresher:
In standby, a machine is not really turned off. It goes into a state of reduced activity that requires only minimal power consumption. The downside is that even at vastly reduced power levels, millions of machines running all day, every day adds up to huge amounts of wasted energy. With oil prices at record highs and the climate under threat from excessive consumption of fossil fuels, this is neither smart nor desirable. It’s not the tiny lights themselves that are at fault — they’re a marvelous, energy-saving invention. Rather, it’s what they indicate: a seemingly unstoppable proliferation of devices that siphon power even while not in use.
Wondering how to quantify ‘vastly,’ ‘huge,’ ‘excessive,’ ‘seemingly,’ and so on? Cambridge professor (and CalTech Ph.D) David J.C. MacKay is trying to do just that in his book ‘Sustainable Energy — Without the hot air,’ and he talks to the UK Register about the many alt.energy scenarios for which he’s run feasibility studies. There’s plenty of material here (and very little that will please the pro-wind, anti-nuke Times editorial board), but this bit tries to put the planet-destroying horror of VCRs that blink 12:00 into context:
MacKay tells The Reg that he was first drawn into this field by the constant suggestion — from the Beeb, parts of the government etc — that we can seriously impact our personal energy consumption by doing such things as turning our TVs off standby or unplugging our mobile-phone chargers. Anyone with even a slight grasp of energy units should know that this is madness. Skipping one bath saves a much energy as leaving your TV off standby for over six months. People who wash regularly, wear clean clothes, consume hot food or drink, use powered transport of any kind and live in warm houses have no need to worry about the energy they use to power their electronics; it’s insignificant compared to the other things.
Whole article here. Courtesy of Arts & Letters Daily.