The Global Environment Information Centre (GEIC) launches the second edition of the CHOCO2 ‘97 study. CHOCO2 or "Choice By CO2" is a study on CO2 emissions from electrical appliances, including TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, video decks, CD players, laptop computers, faxes and colour printers.

In the second edition, automobiles are also rated and ranked according to engine size.

The CHOCO2 study also opens up a wider debate on the need for international manufacturing standards for climate change.

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• Automobiles

• Refrigerators
  [ 0-150 lts. ][ 150-250 lts. ][ 250-350 lts. ][ 350-400 lts. ][ 400-450 lts. ][ 450+ lts. ]
  An extensive number of sizes and categories of refrigerators were examined, from 0-449L with varying results. Results showed that multifunctional refrigerators emitted most CO2, particularly those with little depth.

• Air conditioners:
  Heater-based: [ Small ][ Medium ][ Large ]
  Cooler-based: [ Small ][ Medium ][ Large ]
  With air conditioners, a variety of factors were accounted for, including heater- and cooler-based air conditioners, and the power of the motors. Japanese manufacturers measure the equipments' power according to the number of tatami mats it can cool or heat. For the purposes of the study, one room is equal to a six tatami mat room; 1.5 rooms to 8 tatami mats; and 2 rooms to 10 tatami mats. For heaters, calculations were based on use of 5 hours/day over 4 months/year; and for coolers, 5 hours/day over 3 months/year.

• Televisions
  [Standard][Wide]
  There are a large variety of television sets available on the market. The "wide" televisions with their broader screens were shown to emit up to 3-4 times the CO2 of the "standard" or conventional TVs. In line with the recommendations in the Energy Conservation Law in Japan, calculations were based on an average 4.5 viewing hours per day.

• Video decks
  Results of video decks reminded us that people often leave their video decks on all the time. While emissions varied among the models, it was found that the ratio of CO2 emissions between idle video decks and those in use, were similar depending on the model.

• CD players
  Some 72 types of appliances were examined under this category. It was found that differences between electricity consumption among the models were large, from an equivalent of a 2 light bulb consumption to 5 fluorescent lights (30W).

• Word processors
  In word processors, CO2 emissions and electricity consumption depend very much upon the model, with a differing factor of two among the models. The ratio of electricity consumption and respective CO2 emissions among the models was roughly equal. In other words, the more electricity an appliance consumes, the higher the emissions will be.

• Faxes
  As for faxes, there were variations of up to 300% in CO2 emissions and energy consumption among the models surveyed. Those faxes using normal paper feeds were shown to require more electricity.

• Laptops
  Variations in CO2 emissions and energy consumption among the models ranged up to 200%.

• Colour printers
  There are a variety of colour printers available on the market, both big and small. There was a four fold difference among the models in CO2 emissions when in use, and two fold when idle.