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Tham Yuen-C
Reporter
Charge your phone, heat up the world
May 21, 2009 Thursday, 01:30 PM
Tham Yuen-C explains why unplug chargers, besides saving battery life?
WHAT can you buy with US$80 billion? More than 400 million sets of the iPhone 3G, or enough electricity to power all the consumer electronics in the world. That is what the world spent last year on charging and powering gadgets and gizmos. And this year, that number is expected to rise. In fact, the International Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, the global electric bill for powering consumer electronics is expected to rise to US$200 billion. By then, the mobile phones, music players, HDTVs and computers of the world will need 1700 terawatt hours of electricity to run. That is the energy equivalent that all the homes in the United States and Japan are drawing upon today. The Paris-based agency's point, is that if left unchecked, total greenhouse gas emissions from these electronics could double to around 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2030, leading to more global warming. If, like me, you tend to plug in your laptop charger for hours, leave the TV turned on just for some ambient noise, or not read energy labels when buying gadgets, this might be something you want to think about. Tags: energy, environment, green, technology 
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erm...this post isn't quite related to your article but is quite related to the topic of energy saving. some weeks ago (late april or may) ST digital life carried a story on gadgets like a USB coffee warmer. I forgot the shop they mentioned so wld appreciate if you could give me some clues as to where to net one!
thanks :)
For two cents worth, here are effective ways to save energy instead of pulling plugs off the wall:
-walk to work everyday; don't even take public transport
-spend more time face to face with your colleagues at work and Clients in getting the job done
--spend less time messaging/chit-chatting with friends on your impressive iPhone and slim looking laptop during your waking hours
-talk to your family instead of staring at the screen (be it your HDTV or computer) after hours
-don't use any disposable items anywhere, including paper tissues, toilet rolls....
- last of all, subscribe to print ST Newspaper rather than read STI 'for free' off your laptop (if you are naive enough to think that a producing a copy of ST newspaper chews up leass energy than getting the news electronically)
Follow these steps in changing your lifestyle and you would be doing your part in energy saving towards a greener society. No need to know where 'consumer electronic devices power consumption ranks compared to the real power-sucking sources. Unplugging mobile, laptop and TVs from 'overcharging?' is but a drop in the ocean.
Charge your mobile phones with portable solar charger :
http://www.futureinventions.biz/
If anyone is naive enough to believe that this is all it will take for the small people of the world, to address global warming; then we might as well chuck a lump of sugar into the water of the Marina Barrage to make it sweeter.
As you say,Charger.....naive. Spot on.
There is no such thing as "over charging" an electronic device! Onc e a deviced is fully charge, you cannot get it to take anymore charge. Sigh!
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