PLASMA-SCREEN televisions and large American-style fridge freezers — coupled with the greater use of energy-gobbling tumble dryers and dishwashers — are leading to increased carbon emissions as Irish electricity usage soars, thereby undoing the benefits gained from switching to CFL light bulbs.

The trend has been described as “ worrying” by Brian O’Gallachoir, a lecturer in energy engineering at University College Cork. “More than 90% of our electricity generation at the moment is from fossil fuels, so every additional unit of electricity generated to meet the growing needs associated with these new appliances is going to lead to an increase in emissions,” he said.

“We’ve seen a significant growth in electricity usage per household due to the increase in use of high energy-using appliances such as clothes dryers. This has more than offset the technical improvements made in lowering the energy usage of appliances and the effect of labelling schemes on purchasing behaviour.”

He said the other main contributing factor to the problem is the increase in size of electrical appliances such as televisions and newer gadgets that have not yet been captured in the statistics, such as satellite/cable set-top boxes, DVD players and games consoles.

In 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, the average Irish dwelling consumed 5,591 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, a 24% increase on the 4,526kWh recorded in 1995. This was 20% above the average for the UK.

The acceleration in the trend for Ireland coincided with the economic boom, which was when the increased demand for more and bigger appliances began.

According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency, ownership of tumble dryers and dishwashers has more than doubled in the past decade.

Almost 62% of homes have a tumble dryer now compared with 27% in 1995. Only 19% of households had dishwashers 13 years ago, compared with 50% now. Almost half of homes have two or more televisions today, compared with 29% in 1995. Home computers are also in 56% of homes, versus 16% in the previous decade.

Like many retailers Discount Electrical no longer stocks the traditional cathode-ray tube televisions, which consumed as little as one-third of the energy of modern flatscreens. A 42in plasma television switched on for five hours a day will consume 766kWh of electricity over a year, compared with 222kWh for a 28in standard television.

Energy consumption is not an issue for people buying televisions, said Joe White of Discount Electrical. “Usually they get a 20in set for the kitchen and a 26in set for the bedroom,” he said.

Many new appliances are left on stand-by when not in use, instead of being switched off. Of the annual 766kWh that a 42in plasma television eats up in electricity, 125kWh is wasted by leaving it in stand-by mode.

O’Gallachoir said a campaign similar to the promotion of energy-saving light bulbs should target luxury electronics. Each household produces about eight tons of carbon dioxide emissions, with electricity usage representing 40% of this total.

Aodhan MacPhaidin, an energy consultant with Power of One, the government-backed campaign to reduce energy use, said: “If you replace all the light bulbs with CFLs, but then you have the dryer on all the time, you’re undoing the good you get. We are noticing a lot of tumble dryer use. They are being used during the summer as well, so we are trying to encourage people to use clothes lines.”

Switch off, firms told

COMPANIES and state agencies that leave lights burning at night are to be asked to switch off.

The Dublin offices of Ulster Bank, Irish Nationwide, Eircom, the Helix in Dublin City University and the Irish Aid office have been criticised for using high-energy lighting 24 hours a day.

They are among the offices likely to feature in a documentary by John Callaghan, an environmental campaigner, who plans to project graffiti-like images onto buildings that remain lit. Some owners say they need to leave lights on for security and late staff.

The film-makers will use a laser light pen to create graffiti images on the “offending” buildings. The art work will feature in Turn It Off, a short film claimed to be the world’s first non-emissions production, using solar panels in the studio and bicycles for all travel.

“I was looking at Dublin from the mountains and there were so many lights pointing upwards that there is an orange glow around the city,” Callaghan said.

David Moore, chairman and founder of Astronomy Ireland, said his organisation is launching a campaign against light pollution. He estimates that the nationwide public lighting bill could be cut by up to €70m a year.

Alan Breen, from Dublin city council which plans to cut city energy use by 33% by 2020, said there is no legal standard for public or commercial lighting.

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