The electronics industry is holding the world’s largest trade for consumer electonics in Las Vegas starting this Monday, and industry insiders claim consumer pressure for ‘green’ electronics is having its effect.
“Everything I’ve heard from folks out there is that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on green this year,” stated Scot Case, a vice president at consultancy TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc.
Some of the products feature at the show will be a laptop made from corn and a silver-zinc battery for computers.
Fujitsu Ltd. of Japan will be featuring a laptop made from corn products rather than petroleum products. The model has been available in Japan since 2006, but Fujitsu is just now thinking of allowing it to enter the North American market.
While this new material may be appealing to ‘green’-minded consumers, there are still some kinks in the product for consumers to be aware of. The corn-based laptop is not biodegradable; it still contains some petroleum-based plastic in its base for rigidity. However, the plastic can be recycled, then allowing the corn to biodegrade.
Another product that will be featured at the show is the Z-Power silver-zinc battery. Z-Power has developed a new type of batteries that show some promise of replacing lithium-ion batteries. The new batteries are recyclable, and due to the fact that they contain a precious metal, there is economic incentive to do so. The company’s chief executive, Ross Dueber, stated that its silver-zinc batteries will be in laptops from a “major” manufacturer in the summer.
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