A global assessment of appliance energy consumption and coverage gaps in energy efficiency standards and labels

Panel: 2. Energy efficiency policies: What delivers?

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Neal Humphrey, Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP)
Debbie Karpay, Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), USA

Abstract

Appliance energy efficiency standards and labels (S&L) are proven effective policies to reduce energy consumption of appliances, equipment, and lighting in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Worldwide, these products were estimated to consume over 21,000 TWh of electricity, oil, and gas in 2012, projected to grow to over 27,500 TWh in 2030. All economies have some gaps in S&L policy coverage for appliances. As such, there are opportunities for increased energy savings via additional product coverage through S&L, most notably in the commercial and industrial sectors.

This paper provides summaries, by sector, of existing global S&L policies and identifies opportunities for saving energy through increased coverage. By combining current information about S&L policies by product from the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program’s (CLASP) Global S&L Database with energy use by product category and economy for 2012 and 2030, we visually demonstrate the magnitude of the remaining energy savings opportunity via additional S&L coverage today and in the medium term. End-use energy consumption by product and economy provides a framework for prioritizing gaps. We examine how these opportunities vary between the EU, US, China, India, and approximately forty other economies. Finally, using the opportunity analyses, we provide conclusions for how best to achieve additional energy savings from S&L programs.

This high-level gap analysis provides a snapshot for appliance S&L stakeholders to understand the opportunities for broadening the reach of S&L policies. The broad nature of this analysis provides an initial framework for policymakers and stakeholders to better understand the magnitude of the opportunity in this important policy area, and provides a platform for additional research which should take into account economy-specific political and technical considerations.