A new study from the International Energy Agency estimates that, by 2030, consumer electronics will have sucked up 1,700 terawatt-hours of electricity. That’s over $200B of juice. The study, however, points out that, if electronics companies put more efficient standards into place for consumer electronics, these numbers could be decreased dramatically.

So, no, they aren’t asking us to give up our iPhones and laptops, they’re asking the consumer electronics industry to pay attention to efficiency. With portable gadgets, this is something that’s already being done (to extend battery life, not sustainability.) But personal computers and DVRs are huge power hogs that have never been designed with efficiency in mind.

Also, I should point out that this number isn’t as big as it looks, as it’s the combined energy use for the next 20 years, not a yearly number. But it is a significant and growing part of our energy use. If we can only keep an eye on consumer electronics energy use, however, I know we can drive this number way down.

Via Earth2Tech