'HD TV gas' 17,000 times worse for planet than CO2, claims boffin
Nitrogen Trifluoride emissions balloon on flat-panel production
LCD TVs, praised as being greener than old-style tellies because they consume much less power, may actually be speeding climate change, a chemical expert has warned.
Michael Prather of the University of California at Irvine has completed a study which claims that atmospheric quantities of the gas Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) are booming. He reports his findings in the latest issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
NF3 is 17,200 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a hundred-year period than is carbon dioxide, the best known greenhouse gas. NF3 has a characteristic mouldy smell and is thought to be highly harmful to the liver and kidneys.
The chemical is used in the production of flat-panel displays which, in turn, are used to make today's TV screens. Prather believes that exploding demand for HD TVs around the world has created a huge need for NF3, and that's sending emission levels sky high.
The problem is, NF3 emission levels aren't being measured by the worldwide greenhouse-gas monitoring programme put in place by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
When the agreement was signed by 181 countries in 1997, NF3 wasn't included on the list of gases that should be tracked because at that time the compound's manufacture was miniscule.
But, says Prather, thanks to NF3's use in flat-panel display production, that's no longer the case. NF3's global-warming potential is second only to sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), the nastiest greenhouse has on the Kyoto list.
Most TV manufacturers already sell sets by pushing their eco-credentials. But while vendors tout their sets energy efficiency, NF3 is rarely mentioned.
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COMMENTS
lighter than lead
HEY if this shit is so heavy and it is really heavy how does it get up in the the upper atmosfrear to insulate in the heat traped below it ??????????????????
@Louis.
Well, there was me thinking that the world had only gone pear-shaped recently.
There was I blaming the eco-nazis, Gordon Brown and OPEC and it's actually all Columbus' fault.
crt lcd oled
>i suppose this will be a short lived fad though, as OLED will be here in a few years. i think the power consumption of OLED is much less than LCD and plasma (plasma uses plenty more than lcd to my knowledge too)<
I bought my 28in CRT about 8 years ago, just replaced it with a 32in LCD (the CRT went to my brother as it still works perfectly - his 10+ years 20in CRT went to our mother as her CRT TV - about 30 years old was kinda on the blink, very purple). I'm not expecting to change to OLED for at least 5 to 10 years - probably by which time 3D holographic displays will be all the rage, I'll get one of them.
The planet is in no danger, just the <stupid> people living on her. All this eco stuff is just trying to avert the coming human cull, unfortunately it's probably unavoidable. I hope I just live long enough to be able to download myself into a solar powered computer - so get a move on AI overlords...
more money
for the global warming industry now on the way, lets see which politician jumps on this one first?
Whether you agree ideologically or not, renewable is the way to go.
To all those people who are somehow offended by the scientists, it's okay, you don't have to listen. But, BTW, if we had been listening to this global warming stuff for the last 30 years, we would be independent of oil a lot more now, and the world economy wouldn't be looking over the edge of cliff. That is all.
