Siege on Energy-Sucking Plasma TVs Continues

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Licensed by flickr user szeretlek_ma

LONDON, UK -- The days of the flat-screen plasma television could be numbered in the European Union, which may outlaw the energy guzzlers in its bid to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The minimum energy performance standards could be voted on this spring, The Independent reported. Meanwhile, similar legislation is brewing in California, where retailers may be forced to only sell energy efficient TVs beginning in 2011.

"In the past five years we have seen the main television in a household change from typically being a 24-inch to 32-inch CRT television to being a much larger flat-screen television, with screen sizes of between 32 and 42 inches becoming more and more common," the U.K.’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said. "Not surprisingly, this has seen the energy used by the main television in the house increase."

According to DEFRA, a 42-inch LCD flat screen TV consumes about 350 kilowatt hours annually, compared to 822 kWh for its plasma counterpart. Energy consumption grows as plasma TV sizes increase, earning them the nickname, “the 4x4 of the living room.”

The new rules in California would save the state enough energy to power more than 86,400 homes. The 275 million TVs in the U.S. consume as much electricity as is produced by 10 coal-fired power plants.

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