Thursday, November 20, 2008

Unplug That Charger Now!

We have all heard about how much climate damage Cows can do, or gas guzzling cars, or airplanes or even leaving office lights on all night but what about the humble mobile?

The world's top 5 mobile manufacturers have announced a common energy rating system for chargers. The new rating system is a response to criticism from environmentalists on what has become the world's top consumer electronics business by volume. Nokia say that over 60% of the electricity used by mobiles is wasted and is being burnt as the charger is plugged in whilst the phone is disconnected.

The new ratings system covers all chargers currently sold by Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG. It ranges efficiency five stars for the most efficient chargers down to zero stars for the ones using the most energy.

The alarming statement comes from Nokia who claim, "If the more than three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium sized power plants."

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