Cellphone industry eyes charger power savings
HELSINKI, FINLAND - The world's top five cellphone makers launched a common energy rating system for chargers, making it easier for consumers to compare and choose the ones consuming the least energy, Nokia said.
The new rating system is a cellphone industry response to heavy criticism from environmentalists. The industry has become the world's top consumer electronics business by volume.
The new ratings system covers all chargers currently sold by Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG Electronics, and ranges from five stars for the most efficient chargers down to zero stars for the ones consuming the most energy.
If left plugged into the socket, chargers continue to use electricity even if the phone is disconnected. Nokia said around two-thirds of the electricity used by mobile phones is wasted this way.
"If the more than three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium sized power plants," Nokia said in a statement.
The world's top four charger makers include Flextronics, China's BYD Co, Emerson Group and Finnish Salcomp.
"This should be positive for us," Salcomp Chief Executive Markku Hangasjarvi told Reuters. "Such chargers are more difficult to produce, their average selling price is higher and they demand special know-how."
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Power outage update: 252,596 remain without electricity Wednesday
EASTERN CAROLINA - Power is slowly being restored to Eastern Carolina residents after Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington on Friday, September 15.
On Monday, more than half a million people remained without power across the state.
As of Wednesday morning at 1am, the Dept. of Public Safety reports 252,596 total power outages in North Carolina.
More than half of those customers are in Eastern Carolina.
More than 32,000 customers are without power in Carteret County and roughly 21,000 are without power in Onslow County.
In Craven County, roughly 15,000 people remain without power Wednesday morning.
Many of the state's outages are effecting the Wilmington area,…
