Electronic Devices Waste $80 Billion of Power a Year, IEA Says

The world’s 14 billion television set-top boxes, printers, game consoles and other electronic devices waste $80 billion of power a year due to inefficient technology, according to the International Energy Agency.

“Electricity demand of our increasingly digital economies is growing at an alarming rate,” the Paris-based adviser to developed nations said today in a report. By 2020, an estimated $120 billion will be wasted as many devices use about the same amount of power even on standby.