neowin.net

THE Conservatives will propose banning plasma screens and other energy-guzzling electrical goods in a report to be unveiled next week.

The proposals target white goods like fridges and freezers, as well as TVs, personal computers and DVD players that use too much energy or operate on stand-by.

The ideas come from a Conservative group set up by David Cameron to develop policies to protect the environment and although the measures to make household electrical appliances more energy efficient are not binding on Mr Cameron, they are thought likely to be warmly received by the Tory leader.

The group will also suggest scrapping Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of the nation’s success in favour of a model that measures people’s happiness drawn up up by Friends of the Earth.

Under the proposals, a cap could be set on the energy use of each electrical appliance, and those exceeding limits could be banned from sale in the UK.

A new labelling requirement could be introduced to inform consumers of products’ annual energy consumption compared with other similar appliances.

And there could be a ban on electrical goods with stand-by lights which can stay on indefinitely. Some 2 per cent of Britain’s total electricity use is currently taken up by appliances left on stand-by rather than being switched off.

The proposals are set to be unveiled on Thursday in the final report of the Tories’ Quality of Life Policy Group, chaired by former Environment Secretary John Gummer and green activist Zac Goldsmith, a Conservative spokesman confirmed.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already announced his ambition to “eliminate” the stand-by function on appliances, which was blasted by the Government’s energy review last year as a waste of electricity.

The report is expected to focus on plasma-screen TVs as particularly wasteful of electricity, and it is thought that many models would fall foul of proposed energy cap unless dramatically more efficient technology is developed.

Householders are also expected to be offered tax cuts potentially worth thousands of pounds to make their homes more energy-efficient.

Mr Gummer warned: “We live in a joined-up world and yet we organise our lives in silos. The imperative of global warming demands that we change that approach utterly - not just governments, but businesses, groups and individuals.”

source

umm...who is he to tell people what they can and cannot buy...what a load of C**p.

"sorry Timmy you cant get that GeForce 8800 GTX, it takes too much energy, guess ur stuck with that 7300 GS"

I thought farting cows were reponsible for most of the global warming problem.

Seriously though, over-population is a bigger problem facing us. Having to build on more and more of the countryside isn't exactly eco-friendly and not everyone wants to live in inner-city ghettos.

whats gwanin' mah bredrin

What an incredibly stupid thread title.

Even if this is true (and it's being reported by The Sun, and is only what they're told the Conservatives will propose, they haven't even actually proposed it yet), these are (potential) proposals by the Conservative Party, you know, the party that isn't in power! The thread title "UK plans to ban Plasma TVs" is incredibly misleading.

Quoting "news" from The Sun of all places is astonishingly stupid, you might as well quote it from The Onion.

It was on news.bbc.co.uk yesterday so that nullifies that.

Silly conservatives, don't pigeon hole the entire UK to into falling into the same category as those imbred toffs.

Panasonic and Pioneer will have alot of PR work to do there! Are they the only one left producing Plasma TV?

Go LCD!!!

LOL. This coming from the same guy who also wants us to be nice to chavs and to ban chocolate oranges.

what a noob

apart from the fact it wont happen this is just as stupid as all the other proposals that the Conservatives have made

Is this a joke?

I wouldn't worry about it. It's not like they're going to win the next general election.

It says nothing of the sort on BBC News, the closest it comes is "Objects as diverse as power stations and plasma-screen TVs should be subjected to strict rules about energy efficiency." which is hardly a ban on plasma TVs.

One of the people who wrote these proposals was interviewed a minute ago on News 24 and he specifically said that tabloid reports of things being banned were "completely untrue" and that the only mention of a ban in the entire report was on sending recyclable and compostable waste to landfill sites.

This thread title is as moronic as The Sun and its readers. It should read "UK Conservative Party proposes strict energy usage rules on Plasma TVs and other energy hogs", which, considering that this is a long way from even becoming part of the Tory manifesto, is stretching the truth a little. By saying "UK plans to ban" you are implying that the British government has plans to ban something, which isn't even remotely true.

I didnt really care until I saw this:


Err...no thanks.

sorry but the problem with all this carbon footprint BS lies with the power companies not us they have the money that could make a full nation under renewable energy a reality but that wouldn't make them as much money as they are now

Hmm, BBC has actually pulled their article... weird ;p