October 11, 2007

HDTV To Be Banned In Australia?

Concerns over the energy usage of plasma and LCD TV's have the Australian government concerned. A report commissioned by the federal government has proposed a six-star energy-efficiency rating system for all TV's as well as energy ratings labels to be visible on the models to educate the customer about the TV's energy use. The government also wants to introduce "minimum energy performance standards" in hopes of eliminating the most energy-consuming models. Unfortunately the guidelines they've set would eliminate virtually all current LCD and plasma TV's from Australian store shelves by 2011.

Manufacturers say they support the guidelines but need more time to implement the necessary changes as they have been given only 2 years from the time each guideline is introduced to meet the standards set.

From my point of view, this seems like a small-scale problem compared to carbon emissions and the growing lack of water in Australia. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

ABC News via Techdirt