Beginning immediately, households all over the world will flop on to their sofas for an intense week of TV viewing. In an ultra-environmental family, the selection of viewing might be determined by counting the carbon value of programming.
The sustainability of that 100-per cent acrylic Christmas jumper is one factor. Your TV preferences are one other. Should you want any excuse to keep away from the Meghan and Harry documentary on Netflix, right here is one. A rerun of feelgood Hollywood traditional It’s a Fantastic Life has a a lot decrease carbon footprint.
This month, the BBC’s new director-general Tim Davie posited a future with out broadcast TV within the subsequent decade. He ought to suppose twice about that. Digital terrestrial broadcast tv (DTT) nonetheless supplies the lion’s shares of viewing within the UK. About 43 per cent — and 26 per cent within the US — of what we watch is proven through free DTT broadcasting. That proportion won’t fall earlier than 2034, in keeping with analysis from Enders Evaluation.
DTT is a greener choice than proliferating streaming companies, often called excessive tv (OTT). That is usually delivered by broadband, bypassing conventional broadcast, satellite tv for pc and cable infrastructure. OTT requires extra gear, so power consumption is 49 per cent larger than DTT programming, in keeping with a latest report from UK regulator Ofcom.
Tot up longer hours watched on DTT versus shorter time on paid-for OTT companies. Add power use by viewing gadgets. Complete power consumption figures then even out. However not greenhouse emissions: OTT reveals emit 33 grammes of CO₂ equal per hour, half as a lot once more as DTT applications.
Older dramas and comedies are essentially the most environmental choice. The CO₂ generated by filming them a long time in the past has been unfold over a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of subsequent viewings. Suppose Dad’s Military within the UK or Go away it to Beaver within the US.
If you don’t fancy that, it might time for the dreaded household Christmas stroll. That is an excellent greener choice.
Carbon counter is an award-winning collection of Lex notes calculating the environmental advantages of various life-style selections. For different articles, see here.
