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White Knight Debuts Natural Gas-Powered Dryer

November 18, 2008 By Ariel Schwartz 9 Comments

I always feel guilty when I use my dryer — after all, won’t my clothes dry just as well hanging on a clothesline? Fortunately, a British company called White Knight has come up with a way to ease my guilt. The recently Eco Tumble Dryer runs on natural gas and has half the carbon footprint of a comparable British electricity-powered dryer.

The dryers aren’t totally electricity-free, however— a tiny amount of electricity is used to turn the drum. Still, 90 percent of the dryer is powered by natural gas.

You can buy the Eco43A and Eco83A models now for £350 and £370, respectively.

Photo Credit: SmartPlanet

colinnwn

@Rick Jolly

You can argue sunk carbon cost, but I’d like to see figures to support your claim. Building a concrete dam is very energy and carbon intensive on several levels. All the vegetation that is now under water rots and releases methane and co2. Additionally all that land is no longer available to grow vegetation to bank carbon. I’ve seen studies that say hydroelectric net is worse than nuke but better than natgas elect generation for climate warming potential.
colinnwn

@Rick Jolly

You can argue sunk carbon cost, but I’d like to see figures to support your claim. Building a concrete dam is very energy and carbon intensive on several levels. All the vegetation that is now under water rots and releases methane and co2. Additionally all that land is no longer available to grow vegetation to bank carbon. I’ve seen studies that say hydroelectric net is worse than nuke but better than natgas elect generation for climate warming potential.
Ariel Schwartz

@Rick – To be more specific, the dryer has about half the carbon footprint of an electricity-powered dryer in *Britain*, where most electricity is produced via coal.
Rick Jolly

“The recently Eco Tumble Dryer runs on natural gas and has half the carbon footprint of an electricity-powered dryer.”

That’s an irresponsible claim. In British Columbia, most of our power is hydro-electric. Not only would this dryer increase my carbon footprint, it would cost more to run. The point is that electricity can be carbon neutral, whereas natural gas cannot.

I’ve got to stop picking apart these articles.
Rick Jolly

“The recently Eco Tumble Dryer runs on natural gas and has half the carbon footprint of an electricity-powered dryer.”

That’s an irresponsible claim. In British Columbia, most of our power is hydro-electric. Not only would this dryer increase my carbon footprint, it would cost more to run. The point is that electricity can be carbon neutral, whereas natural gas cannot.

I’ve got to stop picking apart these articles.
Tom

Are these not common in Britain? I’ve had a CNGD for years…
colinnwn

Are natgas dryers new in Europe? We’ve had them in the US for many decades. Used to, they had a higher risk of fire than elect dryers. In the last 10 or so years with more computer controls, I think the risk of fire between natgas and elect dryer is about the same.
Tom

Are these not common in Britain? I’ve had a CNGD for years…
colinnwn

Are natgas dryers new in Europe? We’ve had them in the US for many decades. Used to, they had a higher risk of fire than elect dryers. In the last 10 or so years with more computer controls, I think the risk of fire between natgas and elect dryer is about the same.