EU urged to embrace Energy Star labels

The Consumer Electronics industry is urging the European Commission to extend its support for the Energy Star labelling system as the most effective means of enhancing the energy efficiency of electronic devices.

The Commission is working on a raft of new legislative measures designed to improve the energy efficiency of a wide range of consumer electronics products through the introduction of its new Energy-using Products (EuP) directive, and planned changes to the Energy Labelling directive that would see the A-G labelling scheme applied to white goods extended to include consumer electronics.

However, Doug Johnson, senior director for technology policy and international affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), warned that instead of introducing reams of new legislation that would effectively ban certain energy profligate products, the Commission should look to extend its support for the Energy Star labelling scheme.

The Commission formally announced its support for the Energy Star specification for IT equipment late last year, asking member states government's to make sure that the IT kit they purchase meets the Energy Star criteria. However, this endorsement did not extend to all the devices where the Energy Star label features, including TVs, set top boxes and power supply units.

"They missed a real policy opportunity," argued Johnson. "We believe the Commission should take a fresh look at Energy Star and use it as the defining policy for the EuP. It has been proved to work at improving energy efficiency, enjoys 70 per cent recognition amongst consumers and the necessary energy efficiency metrics for a wide range of products are in place and are updated frequently."

Under the Energy Star scheme, only the top performing products in terms of energy efficiency from a given category are allowed to carry the label, providing manufacturers with an incentive to invest in enhancing the energy efficiency of their products.

George Fullam, head of consumer electronic technical affairs for UK IT trade association Intellect, said that while banning the most energy profligate products would encourage manufacturers to do no more than comply with the new standards, the Energy Star approach provided them with an incentive to ensure they were always amongst the market leaders on energy efficiency. "For TVs the average energy draw for stand by is at one watt, and that includes all the no-name brands," he said.

However, the scheme is not without its critics. Many observers within the IT industry noted that a failure to update the specifications for PCs after 2000 meant that at one point up to 98 per cent of models on the market were eligible to carry the label, an issue that was only resolved with the publication of new specifications last year.

Many legislators within Brussels have become sceptical over the effectiveness of voluntary measures for tackling energy efficiency after the car industry's high profile failure to adhere to high profile voluntary targets on fuel efficiency.

Johnson insisted that parallels between the consumer electronics sector and the automotive industry were not valid. He said that with manufacturers investing heavily in enhancing energy efficiency and tapping new sources of energy such as solar power, there was a likelihood any minimum efficiency standards applied by the EU would be out of date before they even hit the statute book.

The CEA also called for a revamp of Commission plans to extend the A-G style energy efficiency rankings used on white goods to consumer electronic devices, arguing that simpler rules requiring electronics manufacturers to display how much energy their product uses would prove more effective.

"At first glance A-G rankings look like a no-brainer, but the problem is that electronics products change very quickly and there is huge variation even within categories," said Johnson. "There is a danger an A-rating would be seen as a quality mark, when in likelihood the lower end products would be those most likely to gain the A rating."

He argued that in contrast, forcing manufacturers to display energy use figures alongside other product information would allow customers to make informed choices about the most energy efficient products in each class.