Post on 08-May-2020
Lloyd Harrington INTERNATIONAL WHITEGOODS WORKSHOP 16-17 October 2013, Melbourne
Energy Efficient Strategies
Look at the history of regulation in Australia Brief overview of Australian process Assessment of good and bad elements of the
local approach Some candid views on Europe and US What an ideal world would look like……
Energy Efficient Strategies
30 years experience in the energy field Dealing with appliance efficiency for 25 years 20 years as a technical consultant for
governments in Australia on appliances 20 years experience in national standards
committees for product performance Nearly 20 years involvement in IEC standards Broad international experience in energy
Energy Efficient Strategies
Labelling regulations first introduced in NSW and Victoria in 1986
All technical requirements included in state regulations
Test procedures were not in very good shape As new products were added, the overall
process became very messy Many errors and mistakes in regulations
Energy Efficient Strategies
Wilkenfeld Labelling review in 1990 looked at overall system and recommended a national approach
Wilkenfeld MEPS feasibility study in 1993 - more products to be covered
Round table with industry in late 1993 recommended a coordinated national approach to regulation – test procedure (Part 1) and detailed regulatory requirements (Part 2) in Australian standards
Energy Efficient Strategies
Products are selected for regulation based on potential energy savings
Technical feasibility assessed Regulatory impact statement formally
assesses costs and benefits of proposal Standards and regulations implement
requirements Ongoing monitoring and evaluation
Energy Efficient Strategies
Relatively quick to regulate a product Good collaboration and communication with
industry – fairly transparent process Standards processes allow close scrutiny of
all technical details Good data sources available locally –
supports regulatory proposals and evaluation Historically strong verification program Good international policy collaboration
Energy Efficient Strategies
Some government processes resist regulation (reducing green tape, deregulation)
Very modest resources for analysis and policy support
Processes are less formal and rigid (a good thing) but this means that progress is more dependent on the good work of officials
Not enough formal ex post evaluation Little engagement in international standards
Energy Efficient Strategies
Australia is a small market, generally cannot push efficiency envelope in isolation beyond world best practice
Few products are manufactured locally (exception is refrigerators)
Policy of copying requirements from other countries has been quite successful – cuts through issue of technical feasibility
Energy Efficient Strategies
Very process heavy, lot of resources applied Test procedures generally developed in
isolation from the rest of the world Wide product coverage Often push efficiency envelope Approaches to MEPS and labelling less
dynamic, Energy Star quite dynamic
Energy Efficient Strategies
Process well defined, lot of resources, but many external influences on decision making
Sometimes over-complicate the issue – appears to be a lot of horse trading
Little engagement with ISO and IEC Wide product coverage Often push efficiency envelope Label re-grading – long term issue
Energy Efficient Strategies
Regulations need to reward products that reduce energy across the range of typical use
Strong engagement in international standards to make these globally applicable (not all international standards are fit for purpose)
Strengthen policy collaboration on approaches to energy efficiency – harmonisation on metrics and thresholds
Better tools and agreed approaches for evaluation and comparisons
Energy Efficient Strategies
Thank you