One of the world's largest trade shows, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), is to have its carbon footprint offset, the organisers announced yesterday.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said that it had teamed up with Carbonfund.org to offset the 20,000 tonnes of CO2 expected to be emitted as a result of next January's Las Vegas show, and also committed to significantly reducing the event's environmental impact.

"As the world's largest trade show for consumer technology, we are also the first trade show of our size to reduce our carbon footprint," said CEA president and chief executive Gary Shapiro. "We will do so by reducing energy consumption, increasing our recycling efforts, improving efficiency where possible, and making strides toward offsetting our unavoidable emissions."

As part of the initiative, the CEA said that it was working with Las Vegas suppliers to ensure that 75 per cent of all food containers and utensils used by the convention centre to serve CES attendees will be fully biodegradable; recycled carpet will be used throughout the Central Hall of the LVCC; and all attendee literature will be printed on post-consumer recycled paper with soy ink.

"In addition to offsetting the carbon emissions of all CES venues, freight, shuttle buses and hotel rooms, we will provide attendees with the opportunity to offset their airline travel via www.CESweb.org and kiosks on the show floor," Shapiro added.

Environmental considerations are also expected to dominate many of the exhibits at the show, with the CEA announcing it is to debut a TechZone dedicated to environmentally and economically sustainable technologies.

The plans are part of a wider campaign from the CEA to challenge the widespread perception that consumer electronics are environmentally harmful, energy profligate devices, and position the industry as a major contributor to the fight against climate change.

"Consumer electronics are part of an energy-saving solution and improve the way we live, work and play," argued Shapiro. "This industry [has] an opportunity to be a positive force for change and integral to environmental solutions that will ensure future generations inherit a healthy planet."

Earlier this year, the CEA released new research suggesting that far from damaging the environment, consumer electronics technologies were enabling a home working revolution that had cut US carbon emissions alone by 14m tonnes a year.