Power Consumption of TVs

In May 2011, the government is mandating that TVs have stickers on them displaying the cost to power it for a year. It is estimated that currently, TVs and related electronics such as cable boxes and sound systems account for 10-25% of the power consumption in a household. Yet, while laundry machines and refrigerators are being marketed for the energy efficiency, TVs are not. Households have an average of three TVs and they are turned on approximately eight hours per day.

(If those number are true, a more energy efficient TV could have a drastic effect on the power consumption in a household. This would draw a lot of customers, I believe. I also wonder how much research has been done on making TVs more energy efficient. It seems that all the innovation so far has been towards better picture quality.)

What Motivates Investment by Big Companies Part 1

It is always interesting why companies do or don't invest in certain things.  In the case of oil vs. alternative fuels, it has been worthwhile for big oil companies to continue investing in "upstream" activities (i.e. exploration and drilling) due to market returns and tax breaks.  The former is mentioned in the following article and the latter is currently being debated by congress.  (Note:  "$200 oil" means per barrel).

Why don’t oil majors invest in biofuels at scale?