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Promotion of
One-Watt Standby Power Initiative in Taiwan
Ming-Shen Lai Contract
Researcher, Environment & Development Foundation
Introduction
With the increasing use of intelligent household
appliances in Taiwan , the consumption of standby power is
also on the rise. Standby power is the electricity required to
maintain the appliances' at standby mode in order to safekeep
the operation settings, reduce warm-up/recovery time and
receive remote commands. Based on the statistics of Taiwan
Power Company (Taipower), there is an average of 20 products
requiring standby power per household, and each household pays
an average of NT$70 for standby power each month, which amount
to a total of 6 billion New Taiwan dollars per year for the
7.2 million households in Taiwan just for the standby power.
Study conducted by the International Energy Agency
(IEA) also indicated that the standby power consumption in
developed countries can range from 3%-11% of the household
electricity consumption, and if not regulated, standby power
can become the fastest growing power consumption category with
the increasing use of intelligent appliances. This is the
reason why IEA introduced the ¡§1-Watt Initiative¡¨ in 1999,
hoping to reduce standby power requirements of all new
appliances to below 1-W by 2010.
Current Status of
Global 1-W Actions
Currently no country has mandated the 1-W standby power
requirement for appliances, but Japan has already regulated
the limits of standby power for appliances, and California ,
Korea and Australia will have such limits soon. Most of the
present measures to promote 1-W standby power are in the form
of voluntary or green purchasing measures.
For example, EU has adopted the voluntary approach to
1-watt action and worked with the appliance manufacturers to
produce the industry self-regulated Codes of Conduct for power
supplies and digital televisions (e.g., set-top boxes and
advanced TVs). Several voluntary agreements have also been
reached with the industry to cover TVs and VCRs (1997), audio
equipment (1999), and TVs (2003 new commitments).
In the US , Section 23.203.(a)(1)(ii) of the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR) mandates purchases of items
which use no more than one watt in standby power mode. The
Presidential Executive Order 13221 on ¡§Energy Efficient
Standby Power Devices¡¨ also requests federal agencies to
purchase products that use no more than one watt in standby
mode where cost effective. USEPA's ENERGY STAR program has
also incorporated requirements in standby power in its
qualified product specifications.
The minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) in
Australia covering the standby power requirements for several
appliances will be effective in 2006 (for external power
supplies, digital set-top boxes, and TVs) and 2007 (for other
home entertainment equipment, computers, monitors)
respectively. Australia's National Strategy for standby power,
also adopted a two-stage process, with the 1 st stage target
to have most products meeting the voluntary requirements of 4
W standby and 1 W off power consumption by 2006; while the 2
nd stage will set a mandatory target for all products to meet
the 1W standby and 0.3W off power requirements by
2012.
International 1-W
Standby Power Initiative
In 1997, Dr. Alan Meier of the US Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory first proposed to reduce all new
appliances' standby power requirements to below 1 watt by
2010. This proposal was soon adopted by IEA and was turned
into an international campaign to reduce standby power
consumption. Since 1999, IEA has held annual conference on
standby power and has promoted international cooperation
activities to reduce growth of standby power consumption. The
concept of 1-W standby power was first recognized
internationally in Australia 's national policy in 2000;
furthermore in 2001, US President's Executive Order on standby
power was adopted. Since then other OECD countries have also
taken the lead to promote 1-W action. The international
cooperation in standby power reduction can be expected to
reduce manufacturers' burdens in meeting multiple national
requirements, increase economic scale of low standby power
technology adoption, and reduce barriers to international
trade.
1-W Action
Proposal for Taiwan
Two approaches may be adopted in Taiwan to promote 1-W
standby power. In the mandatory approach, the 1-W requirement
can be incorporated into MEPS for new appliances; while the
voluntary approach could include placing the requirement in
specifications for voluntary energy labeling or eco-labeling
program. Preferential purchasing status could also be granted
to 1-W standby power appliances in government's green
purchasing regulation.
For the mandatory approach, considerations would have
to be made for gradual phase-in of the regulation and added
costs to manufacturers, and are thus unlikely to see
significant impacts within a several year time frame. If
manufacturers can be encouraged to voluntarily reduce the
standby power to 1-W through awarding the energy efficiency
label or eco-label to qualified products in recognition their
efforts, the initial impact to the market can be seen in a
short time. Therefore it is proposed to adopt a two-stage
strategy in promoting 1-W standby power in Taiwan . The
short-term (1-3 years) approach would be to incorporate the
1-W requirements to voluntary eco-label and energy efficiency
labeling program, and the mid to long term (over 3 years)
approach would be to have the 1-W requirement as part of the
MEPS applicable to all products requiring standby
power.
Technology Options
for Reducing Standby Power
Based on existing technologies for many product
categories, less than tens of NT dollars in cost may be
required to reduce the standby power for each product unit to
less than 1-W. Commonly adopted designs/technologies include:
• Improve component's energy efficiency: Replace
traditional low efficiency power supplies with new high
efficiency models; use a low-rating power supply to supply
standby power; use small battery or photovoltaic device to
supply standby power; use LDO regulator to replace standard
regulator; use energy saving displays, etc.
• Adopt energy-saving designs: Move the switch to
high-voltage end; use intelligent switch to cut off power
while under no load. If not possible to eliminate standby
power, adopt smaller or dual-rating power supply, or use
battery to supply standby power.
Conclusion and
Recommendations
During the recent years, the standby power requirements
for new models of electronic products such as TVs and VCRs
have already been much lower than those of older models, but
traditional appliances with no standby power (such as washing
machines) in the past have started to require standby power
with the introduction of newer artificial-intelligent models.
The introduction of new products such as DVD players, set-top
boxes and broadband equipment also further increases the
consumption of standby power and turns the issue into one
energy conservation issue which requires immediate action.
IEA's statistics indicate that as high as 1% of global
anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and 2.2% of electricity
usage in OECD countries may be resulted from the consumption
of standby power. Since up to 75% of standby power reduction
potential can be realized for many appliances with reasonable
added cost, the 1-W standby power campaign is an initiative
worthy of being incorporated into Taiwan 's GHG emission
reduction strategy.
As the USEPA already has incorporated the low standby
power requirements into many of its ENERGY STAR qualified
product specifications, through further expansion and
promotion of the current ENERGY STAR Program in Taiwan, Taiwan
should be able to effectively reduce its domestic standby
power consumption and actively participate in the
international 1-W action.
References
http://www.consumers.org.tw/unit412.aspx?id=456
;
http://www.action1watt.com/index.php?indhold=side&id=1
;
http://www.iea.org/textbase/papers/2002/globe02.pdf
¡F
http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2000/blipinthenight01.pdf
; http://standby.lbl.gov/index.html
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