David Smith and Juliette Jowit, The Observer
Our insatiable appetite for the big picture is threatening the planet. A scientist has warned that if half of British homes buy a plasma-screen TV, two nuclear power stations would have to be built to meet the extra energy demand.

Britons were buying flat-screen TVs every 15 seconds from Currys and its online sister company Dixons during the build-up to the World Cup, and subsequent price reductions have ensured they remain hugely popular.

But plasma sets can use up to four times as much electricity as the old-style cathode-ray tube models. Combined with set-top boxes, digital video recorders, DVD players and home PCs, the digital home is seen by environmental campaigners as a growing contributor to the energy crisis.
(13 Aug 2006)

Plasma screens threaten eco-crisis