Europe turns crosshairs on energy inefficient TVs (read: plasmas)

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Ha! The green-crazy European Union is looking to ban energy inefficient TVs, including large plasmas, in the interest of saving Mother Earth. Nope, not joking.

New regulations, which are set to be agreed upon this spring, would set minimum standards of energy efficiency. As we found out last week, plasma TVs aren’t exactly models of energy efficiency: a 42-inch plasma uses 822 kilowatts of electricity per year, while a 42-inch LCD uses only 350. A 32-inch CRT, not that anyone wants a CRT anymore, uses still less, at 322 kilowatts per year.

What does this all mean? Simply, that TVs that go over the EU’s limit on acceptable electricity use wouldn’t be allowed in Euroland. (It’s not that the regulations target plasmas specifically, rather that plasmas are the least energy efficient, hence more likely to get the banhammer.)

Gotta keep the Eurocrats busy, I suppose.