Will legislation improve energy efficiency in consumer products?

With heightened public awareness of the energy efficiency of all energy-using products, one debate that is often at the top of the agenda is innovation versus legislation.

Many parties believe that the only way to reduce energy consumption is to force manufacturers to comply with government mandates that force them to reduce the energy consumption of their energy-using products.

However, there is an argument that the implementation of such government-mandated regulation relative to consumer electronics would in fact have a negative impact as it would stifle innovation, limit consumer choice, and interfere with competitive trends in the electronics sector that support energy efficiency. 

Moreover, existing government-industry partnerships demonstrate that market-oriented solutions can achieve important energy conservation goals while protecting innovation, consumer choice and competition.

Does innovation work? The consumer electronics (CE) industry provides an example of how public-private sector partnerships and voluntary programmes can work together very successfully. Achievements in the reduction of standby power provide a compelling example.

Between 1995 and 2006 TV manufacturers have reduced energy consumption in the standby mode by a massive 94 per cent from 30W to 1.8W. Similarly, the overall power consumption of televisions has been reduced from 400W to 30W since the 1970s – this represents a 92.5 per cent reduction in energy use. Importantly, this progress has been industry led rather than enforced through legislation or regulation.

Indeed, several global companies have committed to producing new products that use a fraction of a Watt when in stand-by mode. For example, the stand-by power consumption of all Sony Bravia TVs is less than one Watt and currently 30 of them use just 0.3W.

These are significant strides that cannot be ignored and for which the CE industry should be commended.

Voluntary and market-oriented initiatives such as the UK’s Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Recommended and the international Energy Star programme have also been major drivers in reducing standby power consumption, whilst protecting consumer choice, industry competition and innovation.  The Energy Star programme for example, initiated in the 1990s, is a successful government-industry effort which benefits from strong participation from manufacturers and is well-recognised by consumers.  The scheme captures a broad range of consumer electronics product categories and creates a competitive incentive for energy savings. 

In 2006, the Energy Star programme for CE and residential office equipment saved 18.6 billion kWh of energy and avoided emissions totalling 3.6 million metric tons of carbon equivalent.

Why is legislation not the most effective route?
The achievements outlined above would be unlikely and unmanageable under a government mandate.  Legislation takes a long time to be drafted and approved. The technology industry is incredibly fast moving with daily technology developments. As such, legislation would never keep up with the industry, hindering innovation, raising costs for industry and consumers, and generally slowing further improvements in the area of energy efficiency. 

In addition, legislation and regulation, usually in place at a national or regional level, often presents new costs and obstacles that can hinder trade and investment. Economies of scale, and lower costs for consumers, are achieved with global markets and global approaches.

Costs tend to increase as manufacturers are forced to re-design models to suit particular markets.  Money that could otherwise fund innovation and R&D is diverted to meet product re-design, regulatory compliance and other related costs, thus delaying the production or modification of more energy efficient CE goods for global consumption.

The fact that policy makers here and abroad are recognising and accepting the need to consider carbon emissions is a huge step forward. However, it also is important to recognise that the goal must be energy efficiency and conservation, not the creation and promulgation of new government mandates and regulation. 

For some sectors such as consumer electronics, legislation is not the best way to drive and support energy efficient products. Without a doubt, voluntary, market-oriented approaches work, and experience demonstrates they are the most effective route to ensuring energy efficiency in the CE industry going forward.

Where can the CE industry make progress?Trade groups such as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and Intellect understand the importance of reducing carbon emissions and the role that household gadgets have to play. The industry as a whole has worked diligently since the introduction of colour televisions to reduce energy used by TV sets, among other devices, and has achieved significant success. However, for many products, including TV sets, active mode energy use far exceeds the use in standby mode.