Be the first to comment!Member States endorse proposal to reduce standby electricity consumption
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During a meeting of the Ecodesign Regulatory Committee, EU Member States have endorsed the Commission’s proposal for a regulation reducing standby energy consumption of household and office products. The regulation lays down energy efficiency requirements for all products sold in Europe, thus cutting the EU’s standby electricity consumption by almost 75% by 2020.
“This first measure under the Ecodesign Directive will drastically reduce standby electricity consumption of household and office products. It is a concrete contribution to reach the EU’s energy efficiency and climate protection targets, while saving citizens’ money,” remarked Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
The “standby” regulation applies to all electric devices used in households and offices, such as TVs, computers, microwave ovens, etc. Depending on the functionality of the product it sets a maximum allowed power consumption for standby of either 1 or 2 Watts for the year 2010. As of 2013 the admissible power consumption level will be lowered to 0.5 Watt or 1 Watt, which is close to the levels that can be achieved with the best available technology.
The regulation will reduce today’s standby electricity consumption in the EU by approximately 50 TWh per year and by a total of 73% by 2020. These savings are equal to the yearly electricity consumption of a country the size of Denmark and would lead to approximately 14 Mt CO2 emission savings per year. Further savings are expected in other parts of the world as well, since many of the targeted products are sold worldwide. The staged approach allows manufacturers to adapt their products to the new requirements in time. The regulation builds on the results of an in-depth analysis of the technical, economic and environmental aspects of standby, which was carried out together with stakeholders and experts from around the world.
The standby regulation will now be scrutinised by the European Parliament. It is scheduled for formal adoption by the Commission within 2008. Eco-design measures on other product groups will follow in the coming months.
