Energy Ministers attending international talks on clean energy in London this week have pledged to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and equipment, such as fridges and computers, as part of an initiative that could save consumers over $1 trillion over the next two decades.

As part of a series of announcements made on the closing day of the third Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in London yesterday, more than a dozen governments pledged to accelerate and expand a $20 million global programme to deploy ‘super-efficient’ appliances and equipment. This included a new public-private partnership to improve and better co-ordinate appliance efficiency standards and labels and new competitions to promote energy efficient equipment.

The 16 Governments participating in CEM’s Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) consider standards and labels the best way to drive forward energy efficient appliances and equipment and reduce carbon emissions.

US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, who co-chaired this week’s CEM with UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey, said SEAD had already achieved a lot. “The participating governments have already implemented more than 60 appliance standards that will save 600 terawatt hours or the equivalent of 200 mid-sized power stations,” he said.

Efficiency standards

The new Efficient Product Promotion Collaborative is a public-private partnership that will “help better utilise the billions of dollars spent globally on appliance efficiency programmes each year” by sharing practices on developing and enforcing product standards and better testing the efficiency of appliances. One initiative will target super-efficient fans in India, Chu said.

Ministers also announced yesterday that SEAD would be extending its Global Efficiency Medal competition to include electric motors and computer monitors. The competition already includes televisions, which account for six to eight per cent of global residential electricity consumption.

Other initiatives

Separately, ministers announced a raft of initiatives concerning wider clean energy policy. These included establishment of up to £60 million of new UK funding to support the demonstration of carbon capture and storage in developing countries and the creation of the launch of the ’21 Century Power Partnership’ to accelerate the rollout of smart grid technologies.

Source:www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk

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