Achieving Energy Efficiency Requires Both a Carrot and a Stick

I had an interesting discussion with energy program engineer Pierre Delforge from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) when I was up at the Green Grid conference the other day.  It even started off well, when I asked Pierre if he happened to know one of NRDC’s most senior litigators Johanna Wald (who had graciously given me an interview for my first book, Renewable Energy – Facts and Fantasies.)

“Everyone knows Johanna,” he replied with a grin.  I suppose I should have suspected that; after almost 40 years of protecting the natural environment against antagonistic forces, it’s understandable that she would have made a few million friends here and there.

Pierre went on to describe the work he does in helping reduce the ecological impact of powering consumer electronics, using both voluntary and mandatory programs.  He gave good examples that explain his activities:

The “Energy Star” designation is earned by the top echelon of consumer products that run on external power.  Perhaps 10% – 20% of the best refrigerators, television sets, personal computers, etc., are granted the right to carry this designation, and consumers who care about energy efficiency – either to reduce their utility bills or to create a healthier  environment —  are at liberty to choose them over “dirtier” products. This happens on the demand side, the”buy” side.

Meanwhile, on the supply or “sell” side, we have mandatory regulations that govern the minimum efficiency that is permitted in a product of a certain size and type, if it is to be sold in the U.S.  For example, a 37″ color television can use no more than a certain number of Watts.

Why would this be necessary?  Take the power supplies on PCs, for example, which are internal on desktops and external on laptops.  I learned to my horror that cheap power supplies can be as little as 60% efficient; 40% of each kilowatt-hour used to run certain PCs never gets into the computer at all; it’s converted to heat, and dissipated.  Over the lifetime of the computer, this will cost its owner $10 – $20 more in electricity charges than a high-efficiency model, not to mention what it costs the environment to have generated and wasted that electricity.  So why does this happen?  High-efficiency power supplies cost their manufacturers a few cents more to build, and those few cents go to their bottom line.

A tragic example, but one perfectly illustrative of the sad fact: we need both a carrot and a stick to get the job done in energy efficiency.