International Energy Agency

With two laptop-loving children and a Jack Russell terrier hemmed in by an electric fence, Peter Troast figured his household used a lot of power. Just how much did not really hit him until the night the family turned off the overhead lights at their home in Maine and began hunting for gadgets that glowed in the dark.

"It was amazing to see all these lights blinking," Mr. Troast said.

As goes the Troast household, so goes the planet.

A new study by Greenpeace International, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and the International Energy Agency considers three different potential scenarios for concentrated solar power's (CSP) growth over the next few decades.

A new study from the International Energy Agency predicts that by 2030, the energy demands of gadgets globally will collectively drain an amount of electricity equivalent to the total power consumption of two of the world's largest developed countries.

According to the intergovernmental organization, consumer gear currently accounts for 15 percent of household electricity consumption, and its share of the total is rapidly rising. Without new policies, noted IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, the energy consumed by high-tech gear will double by 2022 and increase threefold by 2030.

A new study from the International Energy Agency estimates that, by 2030, consumer electronics will have sucked up 1,700 terawatt-hours of electricity. That's over $200B of juice. The study, however, points out that, if electronics companies put more efficient standards into place for consumer electronics, these numbers could be decreased dramatically.