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LCD TVs Are 17,000 Times More Harmful to Our Planet Than CO2

reghardware.co.uk — LCD TVs, praised as being greener than old-style tellies because they consume much less power, may actually be speeding climate change, a chemical expert has warned. Researcher Michael Prather believes that exploding demand for HD TVs around the world has created a huge need for Nitrogen Trifluoride, and that's sending emission levels sky high.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 4, 2008

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  • tehbored, on 07/04/2008, -3/+83It sounds like the LCD's aren't the problem, the factories making them are.
  • SheriffJohn, on 07/03/2008, -16/+90Seriously...can't we do anything right!?
  • salamnder, on 07/03/2008, -6/+58LCD tvs take up SO Much less energy to run and so much less waste when broken then those old CRTs from yesteryear. And best part, a 50" LCD weighs what 75lbs where a 50" CRT would be what, 500 lbs! Not to mention the phosphorous and mercury and bla bla bla bla
  • Punchcardz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+39Terrible, terrible, headline

    Non-retarded summary:
    Making LCDs releases NF3, which is really, really good at behaving like a greenhouse gas. It traps heat 17,000 times more effectively than CO2. LCD's are often thought to be more environmentally friendly because they use less energy and therefore produce less CO2, but their impact on global warming has not considered NF3 released in their manufacture.

    Of course, without any actual numbers, it is impossible to infer ANYTHING. For example if 17,000 times less NF3 is relased in the manufacture than CO2 is saved over the lifespan of the TV, it comes out as a wash.

    The lesson: Maybe we should monitor NF3 emissions and then make a decision about how good and LCD is relative to greenhouse gas emissions.
  • norman619, on 07/04/2008, -1/+37These silly stories designed to scare the ignorant are 1,000,000 times more harmful to our planet than CO2. Mainly because it motivates the masses of ignorant people who tend to react instead of thinking critically to go out and do stupid things.
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -2/+30Is there anything left to blame?
  • t0x2c, on 07/04/2008, -0/+28Despite his terrible construction this man makes valid points that most may not have realized. Lighter weights mean easier travel, less wasted transportation fuels. The chemicals are also much worse for the environment in old style CRTs than LCDs, despite the production waste of LCDs.
  • Marumekomu, on 07/04/2008, -0/+27"I want 50 full inches of Pikachu."

    There's not enough lube in the world.
  • pinchies, on 07/04/2008, -1/+23Well, my old sony CRT TV has none of that nasty gas...
    ...only lead, arsenic, barium, dangerous vacuums...

    OLED displays would be a better option, but they suffer screen burn really easily. I left an mp3 player on overnight with an OLED display, and it 'burnt' the standby logo into it. Hopefully they will improve the tech for full tv's.

    Does this apply to plasma's as well? What stage of the manufacturing process?
  • godd4242, on 07/04/2008, -0/+20SENSATIONALIST HEADLINES BASED ON THE UNVERIFIED RESEARCH OF ONE INDIVIDUAL ARE FUN

  • TomK88, on 07/04/2008, -10/+28It's funny because based on media reports it would seem our species is at its lowest point ever, when in fact it's the exact opposite.
  • a1cd, on 07/04/2008, -6/+22Man... were screwed whatever we do.
  • LilFotherMucker, on 07/03/2008, -17/+32I am sure they mean those 50" planet-killers that my rich neighbor just got for every room, not the simple and humble 42" I have.
  • sedawk, on 07/04/2008, -0/+14"LCD TVs Are 17,000 Times More Harmful to Our Planet Than CO2" -- This title make no sense. Why are people digging articles with improperly phrased titles?

    "Baseball bats are 27,000 time more harmful to humans than hand guns"

    "Dirt is 10,000 times less likely to get you wet than water"
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -12/+26Your parents certainly didn't
  • TheOle, on 07/04/2008, -2/+16Am I the only one having a problem with the headline? Last time I checked, CO2 wasn't a fixed amount of gas.
  • elucubra, on 07/04/2008, -1/+14Ahhh... The old cycle again! Vegetable oil is better than animal fat, no! wait! it isn't! Oh! baby formula is more complete than breast feeding. Oh no It is not! Etc... Etc...

    We seem to always fall for the same traps. I guess we are pathologically optimistic. ( I am at least).
  • Khast, on 07/04/2008, -1/+14I have a quick question.... WHAT DOESN'T CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING? You frequently see (New Technology) creates more (Chemical) which will cause global warming at ( N=rnd(1)*10) ) times as fast as (Old Related Technology) [think madlibs]

    Seriously, does anyone have an answer? It seems literally every time something comes out, we have reports on how much worse it is for the environment.
  • Rikkochet, on 07/04/2008, -0/+11That's not the point of the article, though. NF3 is a hugely efficient greenhouse gas compared to conventional pollution. The solution would seem to be finding a method of producing LCD panels without NF3 rather than shrugging and saying we're saving on energy consumption.
  • warlax27, on 07/04/2008, -0/+11I bet Global COOLING somehow is linked to cause Global warming...
  • JasonCox, on 07/04/2008, -1/+11I call *****; and anyone who dares counter my call can give me an even bigger LCD TV so I can prove I'm right.
  • dsmx, on 07/04/2008, -0/+9Dihydrogen Monoxide is far more potent at global warming than Carbon Dioxide.
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+8canada
  • SemiSarcastic, on 07/04/2008, -3/+11Jesus?
  • Wuzizname, on 07/04/2008, -0/+7Butter churns. Butter churns produce very little global warming gases.
  • Rikkochet, on 07/04/2008, -0/+6I thought it was implied that NF3 was 17k time more efficient than an equivalent amount of CO2.
    Naturally the amount of NF3 given off during the production of one TV may be absolutely miniscule that driving a car down the block puts out 17k times the CO2, but it's something to be aware of.
  • justinviger, on 07/04/2008, -3/+9Dugg for using the word tellies.
  • BluKnight, on 07/04/2008, -2/+8You'll have to pry my LCD TV from my dead, cold fingers.
  • KMartSheriff, on 07/04/2008, -3/+9That's what I was thinking too. How could the LCD's be at fault, instead of the factories that manufacture them?

    Blame China?
  • Rudegar, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5an lcd monitor is just a most of the times smaller lcd tv without a tvtuner which recieve signals analog or digtal and display them
    so unless we are to believe that it's the tuners that use Nitrogen Trifluoride yes!

    the picture of the thread even show a cellphone not a tv so rest asure that it's the panels
  • shanealeslie, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5WRONG! Self respecting hippies ride a bike.
    Poseur Hippies drive hybrids.
  • incongruity, on 07/04/2008, -2/+7Never let reason get in the way of irrational panic when it's founded on less than complete details....
  • jbmcb, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Ah yes, another article from the "75% of all statistics mean nothing" department.
  • kingmanic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4The correlation was broken recently. With the collapse of the soviet union as a plausible threat to the US, US and Russian patrols of shipping lanes have decreased and we now have a dramatic increase int he number of pirates. As well if we include "software" pirates then the number of pirates is at a all time high!!!!
  • EtherGnat, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Evaporation puts 24,000 times more *WATER VAPOR* into the air every day (and removes about the same amount) compared to how much CO2 we produce. At least get your propaganda right.

    Seriously, whoever dugg this nonsense up should be ashamed of themselves.
  • andergriff, on 07/04/2008, -7/+11Enviro-Puritans: throw yourselves over a cliff!!!!!!
  • jackal42, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4Dick, BUDE SURN!
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4I rigged my computer to run off of good vibes.
  • aserer511, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4Solution-buy the best LCD TV at any given point in time so you don't have to buy more and cause more waste :P
  • usafdave, on 07/04/2008, -3/+7I'm at a ***** loss for words. These people need a hobby.
  • JYoungest1, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Why is he getting dug down?
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4would you rather take my pikachu 10 times?
  • pazoned, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4And then what?
  • BlueSkyfish, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3We have to stop putting all these LCD TVs into the atmosphere!!1!
  • scamper22, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Things to teach your kids:

    Everything causes global warming.
    Everything is the cure to global warming.
    Everything causes cancer.
    Everything prevents cancer.

  • Taiyoryu, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3"Michael Prather... claims that atmospheric quantities of the gas Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) are booming."

    "The problem is, NF3 emission levels aren't being measured by the worldwide greenhouse-gas monitoring programme put in place by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change."

    So where does his data come from?
  • inactive, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Might as well have gone all the way and looked up that CO2 emissions for electricity production alone in 1999 were 2.2 billion tons. 4000 tons of something 17,000 times as bad is like 68 million - 3% of it. Also, that 2.2 billion is metric tons, i don't know if the 4000 is metric tons or not. Another one is the atmosphere currently has about 3 trillion tons of CO2 in it.
  • bumcheekcity, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3Sude, DICK BURN!
  • nixfu, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3I guess that scare tactic was not working...and now its time to move on to scare tactic version 2.0.....LIVE IN CAVES!
  • CyphreDias, on 07/04/2008, -5/+8Man-made CO2 based global warming is a fraud. The fraud stems the desire of international elites to inject information that supports a belief system shared by the general public that will help drive the political agenda towards one world socialist government ruled by the same people who are planting the seeds of the propaganda factorys. I have spent a lot of time studying all the material. If you do the same, you will see that Man-made CO2 based global warming is a politically driven elitist fraud. I don't mean to imply that the environment is not important. We do have real environmental problems. It is a shame that so much of our energy has been dedicated to CO2 based lies.
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