UK policy programmes

Many of the current UK policies affecting ICE appliances are derived from the White Paper on Energy (DTI, 2007), which tie to the cross-cutting themes of the UK Government

Sustainable Development Strategy (Defra, 2005). This includes the aim to promote “better products and services, which reduce the environmental impacts from the use of energy, resources, or hazardous substances” (Defra, 2005 p44). Within the White Paper on Energy the government states that it will:

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 Implement measures to improve the adoption of energy efficient products, and help stimulate innovation and global competition with international partners to increase standards and provide a greater choice of energy efficient products to consumers;

 Promote international co-operation on product labelling and standards, particularly in respect to standby power;

 Work with suppliers to encourage more efficient goods and services;

 Publish a succession of consultation papers presenting analysis of how the performance of products will need to improve between the present and 2020.

(DTI, 2007; Defra, 2008b)

It is apparent that the main theme of UK policy relates to improving appliance energy efficiency and work by the MTP has helped to facilitate the improved energy efficiency of a number of appliance types. For example, the annual electricity consumption of some appliance categories, such as cold appliances and lighting, have been in decline in recent years, which in part can be attributed to policies implemented to improve the efficiency of these product groups (Owen, 2006). The introduction of statutory energy labelling (which allows consumers to compare the energy efficiency of appliances through an efficiency scale from G-A++ depending on appliance type) has incorporated energy efficiency into consumer purchasing decisions.

Cold appliances are also subject to minimum standard regulation, which “means those products with efficiencies of D or worse (or F or worse for chest freezers) are no longer available” (Defra, 2008a p7). Voluntary agreements adopted by manufacturers of cold appliances have also “encouraged the production of A-rated models and discouraged the production of C-rated models (D and E for chest freezers)” (Defra, 2008a p7). As a result, over 50% of current sales of most cold appliances (with the exception of chest freezers) consist of A-rated (or above) appliances and a typical new upright freezer now uses around 26% less energy than an equivalent model in 2000 (Defra, 2008a).

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In contrast, until relatively recently, there has been only limited UK policy measures to address rising ICE appliance electricity consumption. Although televisions will be subject to mandatory energy labelling from November 2011 (European Commission, 2010), mandatory energy labelling currently excludes ICE appliances. Thus, efforts to raise the profile of energy efficient ICE appliances has been largely limited to voluntary initiatives, such as partnerships with retailers and the voluntary adoption of energy labels (e.g. the Energy Saving Trust‟s (EST) Energy Saving Recommended Scheme (ESR) and Energy Star) (Defra, 2008b; Defra, 2008c).

Central to UK government action is its intent to introduce “product standards and targets to phase out the least efficient products” (Defra, 2008b p1). To achieve this objective the UK government has set minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for a range of ICE appliances via those established by the Energy-using Products (EuP) Directive (Defra, 2009). Other policies include a retailer initiative, but Crosbie (2008) highlights that so long as a retailer‟s sales-weighted score is positive, in respect to sales of energy efficient appliances, a retailer can still gain an overall “green rating” despite selling appliances that do not fall within the standards. Retailers also do not have to provide consumers with information about the energy efficiency of individual ICE appliances. Crosbie also argues that this form of initiative only concentrates on current appliance technologies, and does not contend with the service infrastructures which have a fundamental influence on the use and development of new ICE appliance technologies (Crosbie, 2008)

Other actions that have been taken in light of Government aims have been the

improvement of public sector procurement, the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour, and support for smart metering. The overall effect of these actions is still unclear and in respect to pro-environmental behaviour, this work is still in its infancy (Defra, 2008c; Defra, 2009).

Further issues that impact on the UK Government‟s response to ICE appliance use, can be found in the Digital Britain policy report (DBIS and DCMS, 2009), which outlines the Government‟s policy aims to develop the UK‟s digital economy. Within the report are ambitious aims and objectives to expand the UK‟s digital services and telecommunications

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infrastructure and encourage the use of these services by UK households. The report identifies a number of key initiatives that include: (i) the expansion and improvement of broadband, digital broadcasting and mobile communication infrastructures: (ii) changes to the education system to provide householders with ICT skills from a young age; (iii) programmes to promote the benefits of being online and increase the delivery of public services via the Internet; (iv) programmes to give lower income households access to digital services (this includes grants to provide affordable technology such as personal computers, digital radios and STBs for digitally excluded citizens); (v) programmes to increase communities use of digital media to maintain social networks (DBIS and DCMS, 2009).

The overall aims of the Digital Britain report suggest that increasing the use of ICE appliances in all UK homes is considered as a fundamental policy for the UK‟s economic growth. Increased domestic ICE energy consumption appears to be an inevitable outcome from these policies, but the impact that this will have on household electricity consumption and CO2 emissions is given little attention. The 239 page report only mentions climate change on one page, where it argues that “telecommunications is green technology” (DBIS and DCMS, 2009 p83) due to its potential to reduce CO₂ emissions from transport and its potential to facilitate smart metering systems. It does not however discuss the potential effect of increased domestic energy consumption from increase occupancy at home (e.g.

ICE appliance use, space heating and lighting etc).

Although the report mentions the need for energy efficient appliances, other intended programmes contradict this position. For instance, the reuse or recycling of personal computers in lower income households may cause less energy efficient appliances to be retained within UK homes. This initiative also appears to contradict the aims of the White Paper on Energy, which looks to encourage the substitution of inefficient appliances with new more efficient products. It can also be contended that the programme to replace analogue radios with digital radios may have a similar impact. Although the report argues that the electricity consumption of digital radios is now broadly comparable to analogue radios (and that some digital radios consume less electricity than an energy saving light

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bulb) the report concedes that “cheaper digital equipment has yet to achieve parity” (DBIS and DCMS, 2009 p98).