Flat Panels are killing the planet

chris

Flat panel TVs are not doing the environment a lot of good, says a study from the University of California’s Geophysical Research Letters publication. LCDs are the particular problem in that they emit a gas, Nitrogen Trifluoride, which isn’t something you want to brush your teeth with.

The problem with the gas is that it is outside the Kyoto Protocol on dangerous gas emissions, despite it being 17,000 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that LCD displays will produce some 4000 tonnes of the stuff this year, which is the equivalent (according to a paper by authors Michael Prather and Juno Hsu) of a massive 67m tonnes of CO2. Or, says their study, the equivalent of the complete CO2 emissions of a country the size of Austria. Next year’s output is predicted to double.

But unlike carbon dioxide routinely released to the atmosphere in the burning of fossil fuels, NF3 is not vented into the air in the normal course of its use in TV set production.

The study’s authors, in drawing our attention to the problem, are concerned that because the gas is not covered by the Kyoto Protocols, it is not being adequately monitored as to its dangers, and moreover, there are no controls in place to prevent its use, or alternates to reduce its impact on the planet.



Source: RapidTVNews

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