There are hundreds of parts in a liquid crystal TV including the liquid crystal substrate, the power board, the metal frame, and the base. Aside from the substrate, which AUO produces itself, all remaining parts come from outside suppliers. AUO requires all these suppliers to fill out a form to calculate their carbon-equivalence.

Taking one of the simplest parts, the metal frame, as a case in point, the supplier must report the amount of three or four kinds of materials used (such as stainless steel), the volume of zinc plating, and the waste products produced (gaseous, liquid, and solid). AUO must collate thousands of raw figures provided by suppliers and enter them into "life cycle estimation software" in order to get the carbon number for the raw materials. In order to minimize sending people back and forth to suppliers to confirm and modify data, AUO has come up with its own digitized software to manage the process; suppliers can access the software online to enter or modify their data, greatly increasing the efficiency of this "carbon auditing" (or "GHG accounting") process.

The amount of CO2 produced by the use of electricity in this stage is calculated on the basis of the "electricity GHG-emission factor" established for individual countries. Because the power sources used in each country vary, there can be quite large differences in this emission factor.

For example, a great deal of power in Taiwan is generated by coal-fired plants, so Taiwan's electricity emission factor is relatively high at 0.636. Korea uses mostly nuclear power, and has an emission factor of 0.454. In some countries where the proportion of green energy is high (e.g. Sweden and Norway), the figure is less than 0.1.

In other words, for the same amount of electricity used, Korea produces 40% less carbon emissions than Taiwan. This "want of a nail" that may cause corporate battles to be lost is a major concern for the future competitiveness of local manufacturers, and will require government leadership to resolve.

Transport stage: virtually zero

Carbon emissions for transportation are determined by entering relevant data into software that calculates the total. Such data includes the shipment distance for each stage in the shipping process (as illustrated in the graphic showing four stages where transport is necessary), the mode of transport (ship, plane, truck), and the weight of the item.

Because this particular AUO television is an OEM product to be sold in Taiwan, and therefore requires no overseas shipping, and major parts and materials are mainly domestically sourced, there is very little in the way of emissions for transport.

Looking to the future, in an era when "carbon = cost," will the current ascendancy of multi-national production and long-distance purchasing be affected? Businesspeople are still taking a wait-and-see attitude.

The figure here is calculated based on the recommendations found in the "TFT-LCD Television Environmental Product Declaration" drafted jointly by AUO, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association, and other participants. This formula multiplies the electricity consumed in the "on" mode (assumed to be five hours per day) plus that consumed in the "hibernation" mode (19 hours per day) by 365 (number of days in a year) and then by 7.2 (average years of use per television), and the resulting number is then multiplied by the local electricity GHG-emission factor (0.636 in Taiwan).

Waste disposal stage: about -8%

Because this television can be virtually completely disassembled and almost all the elements recycled and reused, here the carbon emissions number is "negative." Moreover, AUO has reduced the mercury content of the LCD backlighting by 80%, thereby saving the energy that would have to be consumed in handling this heavy metal as a waste product, making another reason why the carbon emissions figure here turns out to be negative. That is, for this particular product, this stage not only does not put a burden on the planet, it can cancel out carbon emissions from other stages in the process.