Back in August, Bruce Bisset wrote about the problem with flat screen televisions and the greenhouse gases emitted in their manufacture. On Friday, recent measurements of that greenhouse gas, Nitrogen triflouride, made by a team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography through NASA-funded research, will be published in "Geophysical Research Letters," a journal of the American Geophysical Union. The findings are disturbing. Nitrogen trifluoride, known as NF3, is "17,000 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and it is far more prevalent in the atmosphere than previously estimated," according to Environment News Service.
The gas was estimated at less than 1,200 metric tons in 2006, but the recent, more accurate measurement shows the actual amount was 4,200 metric tons in 2006 and 5400 metric tons in 2008, showing a worrying 11% annual growth. Put another way, atmospheric NF3 concentrations rose from 0.02 parts per trillion in 1978 to 0.454 parts per trillion in 2008.
These more accurate measurements are important for several reasons. First, it demonstrates that 16% of the gas produced is getting into the atmosphere. Second, it shows that NF3 is a significant potential contributor to climate change. The gas is not currently covered by the Kyoto Protocol but it is now being recommended that future agreements regulate NF3 emissions based on these findings.
This research also indicates a need to rethink our obsession with liquid crystal flat-panel displays. NF3 is used in the manufacture of flat panel televisions and computer displays, as well as microcircuits and thin-film solar panels. NF3 initially came into use as an alternative to perfluorocarbons, another potent greenhouse gases, But at the time, conventional wisdom was that no more than two percent of the NF3 used in this manufacturing escaped into the atmosphere. Now we know better.
Michael Prather is a University of California, Irvine atmospheric chemist who predicted earlier this year that based on the rapidly increasing use of NF3, larger amounts of the gas would be found in the atmosphere. Prather said the new Scripps study provides the confirmation needed to establish reporting requirements for production and use of the gas.
"I'd say case closed. It is now shown to be an important greenhouse gas," said Prather, who was not involved with the Scripps study. "Now we need to get hard numbers on how much is flowing through the system, from production to disposal." - Environment News Service.
Given that this greenhouse gas is 17,000 times more potent then carbon dioxide and leaking into the atmosphere at a rapid rate, it's critical that we not just continue to measure, but that we regulate and reduce.
Further Reading:
We can easily do without televisions of any kind and there are probably enough flat panel displays already out there, if we are careful to extend their functional lifespans, to halt production of more. What worries me is the impact on thin film PV. Let's hope that an alternative is soon found as that is a technology with real promise to make a difference.
Written in October 2008