New Appliance Standards Could Slash Energy Use
New national appliance standards for 26 common household and business products could slash total U.S. electricity use by over 1,900 terawatt-hours (1.9 trillion kilowatt-hours) cumulatively by 2030 while saving consumers and businesses over $123 billion, according to a report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP).
New
national appliance standards for 26 common household and business
products could slash total U.S. electricity use by over 1,900
terawatt-hours (1.9 trillion kilowatt-hours) cumulatively by 2030 while
saving consumers and businesses over $123 billion, according to a
report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP).
The new standards will affect many common household and business
products — ranging from furnaces to water heaters to air conditioners
to fluorescent light bulbs. In many cases, standards first set in the
1980s or 1990s are due to be updated and can now be strengthened thanks
to technological improvements.
About half the total energy savings would come from new standards for
fluorescent lights, water heaters, home furnaces, furnace fans, and
refrigerators.
The new standards also could contribute to U.S. efforts to cut global
warming carbon dioxide pollution, eliminating 158 million tons per year
by 2030, roughly the amount emitted by 63 large conventional coal-fired
power plants.
On Feb. 5, President Obama made appliance standards a priority by
issuing a presidential memorandum urging the DOE to meet and beat legal
deadlines for new standards.
The federal appliance standards program, in effect since 1987, sets
minimum appliance, equipment, and lighting efficiency standards for
products manufactured in or imported to the U.S.
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