JUL 08

As they say on TV, “Coming up next: Why TVs are hazardous to the environment.”

Just when you think we are getting a handle on emissions issues…Plasma and LCD flat screen televisions are contributing to global warming, a new study has found. A gas used in the manufacturing of flat screen TVs called nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) is estimated to be 17,000 times more powerful than C02.

The production of the gas is equivalent to 67m tones of carbon dioxide. In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine, wrote that the widespread use of the greenhouse gas is a concern.

Prather and his colleague Juno Hsu said this year’s production of the gas has “a potential greenhouse impact larger than that of the industrialized nations' emissions of PFCs or SF6, or even that of the world's largest coal-fired power plants.” The claim is a bit questionable though, because Prather admits to not knowing whether the gas is captured on sight, or broken down before release into the atmosphere.

The scientists are particularly concerned because levels of this gas have not been measured. NF₃ is not covered by the Kyoto protocol but it should be included in any future emissions cutting agreement, says Prather. At the time the protocol was signed in 1997, NF₃ was produced only in tiny amounts, but the widespread popularity of plasma and LCD screens has increased the production and use of the greenhouse gas. Prather estimates 4,000 tons of NF₃ will be produced in 2008 and that number is likely to double next year. With hopes that the price on OLEDs will decrease, organic LEDs may help reduce this problem. But even with efficiency and greenification of LCD TVs, this is a major issue considering the popularity of the screens, and the potential scale of the emissions problem.

“We don't know what's emitted, but what they're producing every year dwarfs these giant coal-fired power plants that are like the biggest in the world," he said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “And it dwarfs two of the Kyoto gases. So the real question we don't know is how much is escaping and getting out.”

Via the Guardian, ABC, Earth2Tech

Comments (6)

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Let's Digg this story, please!
written by Jon, July 08, 2008

This is one we have to spread the word about.

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Questionable
written by Tim, July 08, 2008

This is good to know. But I do agree that this claim may be somewhat questionable, as we don't actually know what is happening to the gas that is used in production. It's easy to get worked up about an industry producing gas that is more potent than CO2, but the fact is, relatively speaking, CO2 is not that strong of a greenhouse gas in the first place. The problem with coal plants and such is that they emit such huge quantities of CO2. If you want to talk about potent greenhouse gases, consider methane.

More on methane and other energy issues:
http://www.brightfuture.us/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=1&Itemid=27

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Could Be Good News
written by rt, July 08, 2008

Could be good news if it proves easy to control this gas at point of use. Likely much easier than replacing a large coal plant.

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...
written by Leuke, July 09, 2008

Yeah, there was a program about this last week on the radio down here in Australia. Gave me a bit of a shock, but then again we should have known there would be things like this around.

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It's probably okay after all
written by Clinch, July 11, 2008

After reading a comment on Envirowonk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_trifluoride#Greenhouse_gas
which said
"Industrial applications routinely break down NF3"

So yes, the gas is worse for the environment than CO2 (which has been know for at least since 2006), and yes, the gas is used in industry (also know for a while), but no, it isn't a problem, because it isn't released in to the atmosphere.

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need to monitoring new technology and ne
written by kianoush, July 19, 2008

this new show the need to monitoring new technology and new product in this way to control of producing new Green house gases. and may be it is an attention about reviwing the process of EIA for such industries!

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