Greener cell phone chargers

Phantom and standby powers loads create a massive amount of electricity consumption around the world each year. For example, if you leave your phone charger switched on at the socket, the amount of electricity it uses while not actually charging your phone is more than when it is.

According to Nokia, around 66% of electricity used by a cell phone is consumed in this way. As a way of helping address this issue, Nokia has released the first in a series of cell phones having with a "green" charger that will remind you to switch off the power when the charging cycle is complete. Nokia claims the amount of electricity that could be saved if people unplugged their chargers is the equivalent of powering 85,000 homes a year.

Nokia also intends to further reducing electricity consumption of chargers by 50% by 2010. While the green charger is only currently available with the 1200, 1208 and 1650; Nokia will provide green chargers for all their cell phone models soon.

Learn more about phantom electricity loads.