The European Commission adopted today four ecodesign regulations 1 to improve the energy efficiency of industrial motors, circulators, televisions, refrigerators and freezers. The regulations lay down energy efficiency requirements which will save about 190 TWh per year by 2020, which is comparable to the combined annual electricity consumption of Sweden and Austria. "This package is a milestone on the road to achieving our energy efficiency, climate change and economic recovery objectives. It will save impressive amounts of electricity, CO2 emissions and electricity costs, while creating jobs and boosting the deployment of highly innovative technologies," said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. The regulation on motors sets energy performance requirements for most of the electric motors used in industrial applications . Furthermore it will foster the use of "variable speed drives" adjusting the motor output to the actual needs, instead of operating always at full capacity. The energy savings triggered by the motor regulation are about 135 TWh per year by 2020.

The regulation on circulators will shift the market to "intelligent" high efficiency circulators capable of adjusting their performance to the needs of the heating system. Circulators can be found in almost every building's boiler or heating system, and the electricity savings are expected to be about 25 TWh per year by 2020. The two regulations on televisions and refrigerators/freezers will leave only the efficient products on the market. The expected annual electricity savings by 2020 are about 30 TWh. In total nine ecodesign regulations have now been put in place 2 , which are expected to save about 315 TWh electricity per year by 2020 if fully implemented. This is more than the annual electricity consumption of Italy. Further information on Ecodesign is available here.

Source: European Commission

The Commission adopted today two ecodesign regulations to improve the energy efficiency of household lamps and of office, street and industrial lighting products. The two regulations lay down energy efficiency requirements which will save close to 80 TWh by 2020 (roughly the electricity consumption of Belgium, or of 23 million European households, or the equivalent of the yearly output of 20 power stations of 500 megawatts) and will lead to a reduction of about 32 million tons of CO2 emission per year. Inefficient incandescent light bulbs will be progressively replaced by improved alternatives starting in 2009 and finishing at the end of 2012. As a result of these regulations, 11 billion euros are expected to be saved and re-injected every year into the European economy.

"These groundbreaking measures respond to the request of the 2007 Spring European Council to the Commission (confirmed by the European Parliament) to address the efficiency of lighting products both in the domestic and tertiary sectors by 2009. They deliver a clear message about the EU's commitment to reach its energy efficiency and climate protection targets. By replacing last century lighting products by more performant technologies, European homes, buildings and streets will keep the same quality of lighting, while saving energy, CO2 and money", said Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

California Air Resources Board (ARB) chairman Mary Nichols sent a letter to Lisa Jackson, the new designated Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requesting that she revisit the decision by the previous EPA administrator that denied California the waiver it needs to enforce its clean car law. “We feel strongly that under its new leadership, EPA will recognize that the decision made by the former administrator to deny California the waiver to enforce our clean car law was flawed, factually and legally, in fundamental ways,” said Nichols. Should the EPA grant the waiver, California, and 13 other states will begin a program to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles 30 percent by 2016.

The letter points out that the decision by the previous EPA administrator improperly evaluated California’s need for greenhouse gas standards in complete isolation, without also considering the context of California’s complete motor vehicle emission control program. This created a new set of hurdles and test that no other waiver request had triggered. The letter also indicates that California believes that the EPA can reconsider its decision in a manner that fulfills its public notice and comment obligations without undue delay. This is because the issues to be reconsidered are limited in scope, and there has already been extensive comment input by stakeholders and the public on the waiver request. The letter can be found at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/arbwaiverrequest.pdf