Details of EC's Proposal to Reduce Standby Electricity Consumption

July 10, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

The draft measure is based on the Ecodesign Directive (Directive 2005/32/EC) of the European Parliament and the European Council of Ministers, which gave a mandate to the EC to set ecodesign requirements for energy-using products^.[1]

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Ecodesign requirements are environmental performance levels that products covered by the measure need to meet if they are to be put on the European Union (EU market), regardless of where they are produced.

The Ecodesign Directive lists products that have been identified by the European Council and European Parliament as priority areas, including "a separate implementing measure reducing standby losses for a group of products."

Revising this directive is seen as being one of the priorities of the EC Action Plan on Energy Efficiency.^[2]

Standby and off-mode losses
Standby functions (such as the remote control activation of a television set) and off-mode losses (occurring when a product cannot be switched off completely when providing no service/function) are a common feature of electrical and electronic household and office equipment (such as consumer electronics, information and communication technology equipment and personal care products).

In general, these products compete on highly price-sensitive markets. On the other hand, users are often not aware of the electricity consumption and costs of standby/off-mode, which are usually small for a single product.^[3]

Therefore, low power consumption in standby/off-mode is not an important purchasing criterion. However, a typical household is, in general, equipped with dozens of products featuring the standby/off-mode, and the resulting energy consumption and related costs are significant.

Technical solutions that reduce energy consumption in standby/off-mode are frequently not applied, mostly due to possible additional costs for the manufacturer, albeit generally very low. Nonetheless, a slightly higher purchase price pays off for the user because the overall life-cycle cost is reduced. This leads to electricity consumption and related costs being much higher than necessary.

Electrical and electronic household and office equipment featuring the standby and off-mode is sold in vast numbers throughout the European Community. Electricity consumption related to standby and off-mode is significant, and significant cost-effective improvement potential exists.

Electricity consumption in standby/off-mode today
Widespread use of electronic household and office equipment leads to important overall electricity consumption related to standby/off-mode.

For the year 2005, a study estimated that approximately €3.7 billion^[4] installed products in the EU feature standby/off-mode, leading to electricity consumption in standby/off-mode of close to 50 terawatthours, corresponding to electricity costs of about €7 billion^[5] and to 20 million tons of CO2 emissions.^[6]

However, if applied appropriately, standby functionalities can help save electricity because they provide a convenient way to switch equipment into a condition with reduced power consumption compared to the "active" condition that provides the main function, which typically uses much more power.

In order to optimize the combined active/standby/off-mode electricity consumption of a certain product, consumption in standby/off-mode must be minimized, while ensuring that standby functionalities are not left out from the product.

Electricity consumption of standby/off-mode in 2020
The evolution of electricity consumption related to standby and off-mode until the year 2020 indicates that:

• There is an increasing penetration rate of equipment featuring standby and/or off-mode, and, assuming the typical product lifetime and usage times, the installed base of equipment featuring standby mode and off-mode will increase to about 4.6 billion products in 2020. It is expected that electricity consumption in standby/off-mode will stand at around 50 terawatthours per year in 2020 (an amount comparable to the total electricity consumption of Greece or Portugal).

• Awareness-raising campaigns aimed at increasing demand for products with low standby/off-mode, plus educating users to switch or unplug equipment when not using it, have and continue to be carried out in several EU member states. To some extent, this has led to better "switch-off habits" and influenced purchasing decisions regarding equipment with low electricity consumption in standby and off-mode.
  
  Nevertheless the European Parliament and European Council have identified standby/off-mode as a priority measure, since it is difficult and time-consuming to address the underlying problem laid out above through promotional and awareness-raising approaches aimed at individual consumers.

Costs of the proposed measure for consumers
The additional costs that may arise from the technologies necessary to achieve compliance for the equipment that does not yet meet the requirements are expected to be very low. Therefore, the affordability of such products should not be negatively affected even for low-income households. On the contrary, consumers will realize electricity and monetary savings on the running costs of their appliances.

It is estimated that in 2020 the new measure will lead to a reduction of standby/off-mode electricity consumption of 35 terawatthours compared to a "business as usual" scenario. The electricity savings correspond to savings of electricity costs of about €4.5 billion in electricity prices for the year 2005^[7] (of which 80-90% is accounted for in households).

Due to economy-of-scale effects, it is to be expected that potential added purchasing costs - if any - will decrease after ecodesign requirements are introduced and the electricity cost savings become net savings. Furthermore, electricity costs are likely to increase further, making the resulting cost savings even higher.

This improvement is subject to the reduction of the power consumption of standby/off-mode operating conditions only. Additional reductions can be expected from the requirement for the automatic power-down functionality, which serves to switch equipment from active mode to standby/off-mode.

Development of the new measure
The Ecodesign Directive requires the EC to first consider relevant European Community and national environmental legislation or voluntary initiatives to assess whether further legislation would be justified.

At the community level, several voluntary programs related to standby/off-mode have been launched, such as the Energy Star program for office equipment, the Eco-label and the EC's Codes of Conduct. However, these programs address only a very limited subset of standby/off-mode electricity-consuming equipment and only a limited number of manufacturers take part.

As already mentioned, awareness-raising campaigns that have already been undertaken in several member states cannot solve the problem alone. Furthermore, legislative action on standby/off-mode cannot be taken at the level of member states. Both member states and industry expect harmonized measures to ensure free circulation for the products that are in compliance with them.

The level of ambition for improving the electricity consumption in standby/off-mode was determined by an analysis of the lowest life-cycle cost for the equipment user. Benchmarks for technologies that yield the best performance were considered.

Several policy options for achieving a market transformation that realizes the appropriate level of ambition were considered in close consultation with experts from member states and the affected stakeholders (consumers, environmental nongovernmental organizations, and industry).

An assessment of the proposed implementing measure has also been carried out. In particular, options for the timing of eco-design requirements were analyzed, taking into account the criteria set out in the Ecodesign Directive, such as:

• No significant negative impacts on the functionality of the product, from the perspective of the user.
• No adverse effects on health, safety and the environment.
• No significant negative impact on consumers, in particular as regards affordability and life-cycle cost of the product.
• No significant negative impacts on industry's competitiveness.
• No excessive administrative burden shall be imposed on manufacturers.
• In principle, should not impose proprietary technology on manufacturers.

Improvement potential, level of ambition and benchmarks
Existing cost-effective technical solutions allow for standby/off-mode power consumption levels in the range of one-half to one watt, or below. Today, standby/off-mode power consumption levels of electric and electronic household and office equipment are typically several watt.^[8]

Assuming that electric and electronic equipment has a power consumption between one-half watt (off-mode/standby - reactivation function) and one watt (standby - display/clock), it is estimated that the resulting electricity consumption of electrical and electronic equipment in standby/off-mode in 2020 will amount to about 15 terawatthours. This means a reduction of 35 terawatthours or more, about equal to the total electricity consumption of Denmark.

The preparatory study has shown that the benchmark set by the best available technology yields standby/off-mode power consumption levels in the range of one-half to three watt. However, depending on the product in question, such levels may imply technical solutions that are not cost-effective and lead to material related tradeoffs (such as back-up batteries), potentially resulting in an increase of life-cycle environmental impact.

Environmental impact - annual reduction of CO2 emissions in 2020
The proposed requirements are expected to lead to a reduction of standby/off-mode electricity consumption of about 35 terawatthours in 2020 (compared to the "no action" scenario), yielding an annual CO2 emission savings of 14 million tons,^[9] as well as reductions of further electricity production-related environmental impacts (such as those from SO2, NOx and heavy metals).

As discussed above, this improvement is due to the reduction of the power consumption of standby/off-mode operating conditions only, and further important reductions can be expected from requirements on automatic power-down functionality and improved energy performance in further operating conditions that cannot be quantified.

To a large extent, the equipment covered by this regulation is produced for the world market. Therefore, these requirements will have an impact on the design of equipment shipped to markets other than the EU, and the resulting reductions in their environmental impact will be much higher than those estimated for the EU alone.

Conclusions of the studies
Discussions showed that the appropriate policy to improve the potential for standby and off-mode electricity losses is a regulation that lays down the requirements for standby and off-mode for a broad range of products. Such a regulation would come into effect in two stages.

This approach ensures that:

• The cost-effective potential to improve electricity consumption in standby/off-mode is quickly realized, leading to important electricity and CO2 savings, while reducing the life-cycle costs for electrical and electronic household and office equipment.
• The annual electricity consumption in 2020 will be reduced by about 35 terawatthours compared to a business-as-usual scenario.
• Accumulated electricity savings, electricity cost savings and CO2 emission savings of 194 terawatthours, €26.4 billion and 77.6 million tons of CO2, respectively, by 2020.
• a clear legal framework providing a level playing field for manufacturers, ensuring fair competition.
• Harmonized requirements for standby/off-mode in the European Community, leading to a minimization of administrative burdens and costs for economic operators.
• No disproportionate burdens for manufacturers are created due to transitional periods that duly take into account re-design cycles.
• Additional energy savings will be triggered outside the European Community because a broad range of the equipment covered are produced according to identical specifications for the world market.

Types of products covered
The scope of this ecodesign measure on standby/off-mode losses addresses plug-and-play electrical and electronic household and office equipment. Fixed installed equipment and systems - for example, building infrastructure (such as "split" air conditioning installations), individual parts and industrial equipment - are not included (standby functions are typically developed for being useful to the end user).

The scope of the proposed regulation is defined by using an approach similar to that for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive),^[10] while limiting the application to products corresponding to household and office equipment. Furthermore, catch-all clauses are included to ensure that future types of household and office products are covered.

Staged implementation of ecodesign requirements
Maximum power levels for off-mode and standby are proposed that are scheduled to come into force in two stages:

Stage 1
Off-mode and standby - reactivation function: 1 watt

Standby - information or status display: 2 watt

Stage 2
Off-mode and standby - reactivation function: 0.5 watt

Standby - information or status display: 1 watt

Those levels are cost-effective and can be achieved with current state-of-the-art technology, the levels corresponding to the second stage yielding lower life-cycle costs than the levels corresponding to the first stage.

However, taking into account the possible impacts on manufacturers, including small to medium-sized enterprises, less demanding requirements are set in the first stage, and more time is given to achieve compliance with the stricter requirements of the second stage.

Definitions for off-mode and standby
The set of definitions for off-mode and standby are related to the international standby standard, IEC 62301.

The conditions for equipment involving sensor-based safety functions are not included in the definition of standby in order to prevent safety-relevant functions being left out of equipment merely for the sake of meeting legal requirements.

This is relevant mainly for wet appliances (water stop functions) and cooking equipment, such as sensors indicating that a cooking field is hot. Those functions will be taken into consideration in the relevant product-specific ecodesign-implementing measures.

"Hard off" switch or "0 watt off-mode" requirement
In general a "hard off" switch^[11] can help reduce the overall energy consumption of a particular product. However, , depending on the characteristics related to requirements on electromagnetic compatibility, even with a hard off switch, power consumption in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 watt often cannot be avoided, and "0 watt off-mode" is technically not achievable.

The proposed horizontal regulation, therefore, takes the approach of requiring a power consumption in off-mode and standby mode close to the best available technology, but does not contain a requirement for a mandatory hard off switch or a 0 watt off-mode.

It is left to the manufacturer to decide whether a hard off switch would be appropriate to comply with off-mode requirements. The technical feasibility and the appropriateness of a 0 watt/hard-off switch requirement will be considered on a product-by-product basis for product-specific implementing measures.

^[1] OJ L 191 of 22.7.2005, p. 29.

^[2] COM(2006)545 final.

^[3] As an example, five watts of standby power consumption activated 20 hours per day imply an annual electricity consumption of 5 watts x 20 hours/day x 365 days = 36.5 kWh, corresponding to about €5 in electricity costs.

^[4] Figures are for the first 25 members of the European Union (EU-25), which was the data basis of the preparatory study; the figures for the EU-27 are slightly higher.

^[5] Average electricity price in the EU 2005: 0.136 €/kWh.

^[6] Average specific EU emissions in 2003 for EU-25: 400g CO2 per kWh (EURELECTRIC, Environmental Statistics of the European Electricity Industry, Trends in Environmental Performance 2003-2004); this figure is higher if, for example, mining-related effects are taken into account (MEEuP: plus 10%).

^[7] Average electricity price in 2005 in EU-25: 13.6 Cent/kWh.

^[8] Standby/off-mode examples: computer, 3.6 watt/2.2 watt; DVD player, 4.8 watt/1.5 watt; washing machine, 5.7/1.2 watt.

^[9] Assuming the specific CO2 emissions of 2003 which, however, is expected to change due to the European Community's strategy for promoting renewable energy sources.

^[10] OJ L 37 of 13.2.2003, p. 24.

^[11] A switch on the product that facilitates disconnecting it from the main power source.

Source: European Commission.