Correctly applying the Ecodesign Directive would lead to annual electricity savings of 17% in the EU - 30 September, 2012.
A recent study conducted by Ecofys concluded that the European Ecodesign Directive being correctly applied would lead to annual savings of up to 600 TWh of electricity and 600 TWh of heat production energy by 2020, the equivalent of 17% and 10% of the European Union total respectively.
The Ecodesign Directive is one of the most
effective tools that the European Union has for cost-effective energy savings.
These savings would increase EU supply security, would create jobs and would
help the EU to achieve the medium- and long-term targets in terms of energy and
climate change.
Apart from the environmental benefits, this study has detected the economic
benefits resulting from the Directive being correctly applied. These include a
net savings of 90,000 million euros per year - 1% of the current GDP of the EU
- by 2020, both for the consumers and for European companies, which would mean
a savings of €280 per household per year.
The dependency on energy imports likewise would be reduced by 23% as regards
natural gas and 37% in terms of coal. This means that the EU could drastically
reduce natural gas imports by more than a half and coal imports could stop
completely.
Ecodesign Directive
The European
Ecodesign Directive was introduced in order to harmonise the
ecological design requirements for all energy-related products across the
Community. It establishes a framework of ecodesign requirements, applicable to
those products (Energy-related Products, ErP) as they account for a large
percentage of the natural resources and energy consumed in the European Union
and have other significant impacts on the environment. Should they fail to meet
these requirements, the products cannot obtain the CE mark and, therefore,
cannot be sold within the European Community.
Source: www.ihobe.net
30 September, 2012.