Energy efficiency can deliver big rewards

For lighting and appliance manufacturers alike, energy efficiency is now Job 1. Driven by legislative mandates and the Obama administration’s new push on energy, the US is on the cusp of a massive drive for efficiency breakthroughs in appliances that could pay off big for consumers and the environment by increasing energy savings and slashing the number of power plants needed to run all those gadgets.

At least 25 new federal energy-efficiency standards for consumer lighting and appliances are slated to be revamped over the next four years. Together, they could deliver about one-fifth of the administration’s goal of cutting electricity use by 15 percent by 2020, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy reports.

By slashing the energy use of everyday appliances such as microwave ovens, clothes dryers, washing machines, pool heaters, refrigerators, and room air conditioners, the new standards could:

• Save about 165 billion kilowatt hours annually, cutting consumer and business energy bills by some $16 billion – about equal to the current combined annual electricity use of households in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
• Reduce peak electricity demand by about 60,000 megawatts, enough to eliminate the need for 200 power plants, each with 300 megawatts of capacity.
• Slash carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of power plants by about 150 million tons annually.

"Energy efficiency can be improved very quickly," Secretary of Energy Steven Chu told National Geographic magazine recently. "Appliance standards, ka-BOOM, can be had right away."

Eliminating conventional incandescent light bulbs beginning in 2012, as mandated by the 2007 energy bill, will save an estimated $40 billion, cut the need to build a dozen coal-fired power plants, and slash 50 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Earlier this month, the DOE unveiled a major lighting-efficiency standard aimed at two types of bulbs: the ubiquitous four-foot and eight-foot fluorescent tubes common in many offices; and incandescent reflector lamps, the cone-shaped bulbs that fit in recessed ceiling fixtures.

DOE estimates that the new lighting rule could save consumers almost $40 billion between 2012 and 2042 and eliminate the need for up to 3,850 megawatts of power-generating capacity.

Source: Alliance to Save Energy. Christian Science Monitor