BRAZIL
Minimum Performance Standards
and Labeling to Improve Energy
Efficiency
Building
EnErgy EfficiEncy
1
Education, labeling help lower energy
demand and emissions in Brazil
lEading thE rEgion
To improve energy security in response to the oil crises of the 1970s, Brazil
implemented a range of energy diversification and conservation measures. Besides its well-known efforts to increase the share of renewable energy, the country has become a regional leader in energy efficiency labeling and minimum energy performance standards.
information, laBEling and invEstmEnt
incEntivEs
Since the 1980s, Brazil has implemented various programs and laws to educate consumers about energy efficiency, facilitate selection of efficient products, and establish minimum product standards. These initiatives have changed consumer behavior, leading to a shift in demand for electricity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and allowing the country to postpone expansion of its electricity-generating capacity.
In 1984, Brazil implemented the Brazilian labeling Program which created a National Energy Conservation Label for a wide range of appliances and equipment. The labels use a scale to indicate energy efficiency and facilitate comparisons with similar products. The program’s goals are to educate consumers to make informed purchases and to encourage companies to produce higher quality, more efficient technology. Initially voluntary, labeling is now mandatory for most products.1 The
National Institute of Metrology, Standards and Industrial Quality (INMETRO), which falls under the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, manages the program and established uniform testing procedures and laboratories to evaluate product compliance. The program coordinates closely with both manufacturers and retailers, and efficiency standards are consistent with international standards, including those of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).2 Currently
41 product categories, including lamps, refrigerators, air conditioners, and electric showers, are part of the program.3 The national institute conducts annual testing
to ensure that products remain in compliance with the labels. Those that do not conform as labeled must be correctly relabeled or removed from the market.
Through its General Energy Efficiency Coordination Office, the Ministry of Mines and Energy is responsible for designing and implementing Brazil’s energy efficiency policies, including the national Electricity conservation Program (ProcEl). Introduced in 1985, the program aims to reduce energy intensity in residential, commercial, and public buildings; industry; public lighting; municipal facilities; and water and sanitation. The state-owned utility, Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A (Eletrobras), operates the program and funds activities through its own budget and with contributions from the Global Reversion Reserve. The reserve, used primarily for improvement and expansion of public energy systems, is funded by a tax on electricity distribution rates paid by end users. Through various programs, PROCEL finances public lighting (replacing conventional lamps with energy efficient bulbs), implements energy-efficiency projects with industry and conducts energy audits. Most of the program’s energy-conservation efforts, however, involve information and labeling.
ProcEl’s major EnErgy consErvation Efforts
Information and Education: This program focuses on education, institutional capacity building and sharing of knowledge, especially best practices and success stories, to change behavior. Through academic, industrial and electric utility partners, PROCEL conducts courses and seminars for industry, commerce, government agencies, and school-based programs. Besides establishing more than 40 laboratories for testing product energy use, the government has created a network for teaching and research on energy efficiency. Education efforts aim to teach the public about energy conservation and provide technical training through schools. Eletrobras funds related education programs and invested about USD 2.3 million in partner institutions and universities in 2011. An extension of this program is the Energy that Transforms program which educates consumers about energy efficiency through television, radio and printed material. Eletrobras has supported the establishment of two energy efficiency centers of excellence, with two more underway. The centers will serve to educate students and energy officials and develop methodologies for measuring and verifying the results of Brazil’s energy efficiency programs.
Labeling: To complement the National Labeling Program, PROCEL operates a labeling and reward program in cooperation with the National Institute of Metrology, Standards and Industrial Quality, which identifies the most energy efficient products in each category with a seal of approval, using criteria established by the institute and PROCEL. Nearly 70 percent of PROCEL’s results stem from the labeling and reward program.4 Labeling, which began as a voluntary program in 1993, has become mandatory for certain products. To test products and issue the PROCEL Seal,
Eletrobras has invested USD 7.9 million to establish 20 laboratories in research centers and universities. By the end of 2011, 3,784 appliance and equipment models in 32 categories were using the PROCEL label. In 2011, PROCEL and the National Institute of Metrology, Standards and Industrial Quality also granted energy labels to 20 buildings that received top ratings based on the efficiency of their building envelopes,
Source:INMETRO.
an Example of a national Energy conservation label for a refrigerator
3
The Program for the rational use of oil Products and natural gas was created in 1991 to conserve natural gas and oil and their derivatives. The Ministry of Mines and Energy manages the program in cooperation with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.
(Petrobras), Brazil’s semi-public oil producer, which also funds and provides technical assistance to the program. In cooperation with the National Institute of Metrology, Standards and Industrial Quality, the program seeks to improve the energy efficiency of fossil fuel-powered equipment, such as stoves, furnaces and hot water heaters through education, marketing and mandatory labeling.
To encourage investment in energy efficiency, a 2000 law created an Energy Efficiency Program requiring public power distributors to invest 0.5 percent of operational liquid income in energy efficiency programs, worth roughly USD 160 million per year. The required investment rate will be reduced to 0.25 percent after January 2015.5 The Energy Efficiency Program, which is managed by the Brazilian
Electricity Regulatory Agency, pays for the substitution of conventional lamps and appliances—such as bulb and fluorescent lamps, refrigerators, electric showers, air conditioners, electric motors, internal electrical installation and pumping systems— with more efficient models. It also subsidizes education campaigns, demand side management (such as metering and smart grids) and pilot projects. At least 60 percent of the funding is allocated to low-income consumers to replace inefficient lighting and appliances. The program is required to monitor and evaluate results and is designed so that physical and financial targets can be adjusted as projects are implemented.6
In October 2001, the government passed the national Energy Efficiency law calling for minimum energy performance standards (or maximum energy consumption standards) standards for equipment produced or sold in Brazil. A committee was established to develop implementing regulations and set indicators and standards for appliance and equipment energy efficiency. Since the infrastructure for an appliance and building labeling program was already well developed under PROCEL and the National Institute of Metrology, Standards and Industrial Quality, the labeling activities and technical advisory services under the 2001 law were incorporated into the two existing programs, with the participation of the appropriate government agencies. Eletrobras subsidizes energy efficiency testing, and qualifies the labs and research centers that conduct testing. The program began with standards for refrigerators and freezers and now includes fans, televisions, thermal storage tanks, lamps, solar photovoltaic panels, centrifugal motor pumps, three-phase induction motors, air conditioners, clothes washers and solar collectors. Regulated equipment sold in Brazil must comply with performance standards. Noncompliant equipment found on the market must be removed within 30 days or face a penalty of up to 100 percent of the cost of the appliance for each unit.7
mEasurEs yiEld long-tErm savings
In 2011, PROCEL, in cooperation with the National Labeling Program, led to 7 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy savings, corresponding to 1.6 percent of national power consumption and a 2.6 GW reduction in peak demand. Those measures also reduced emissions by 196,000 tons of CO2-equivalent that year.8
Brazil’s power system has a low carbon intensity, deriving more than three-quarters of its electricity from hydropower or other renewable technologies. The emissions reductions
therefore do not reflect the impact that similar measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could have in countries that rely more heavily on fossil fuels for power generation.9
Eletrobras estimates that last year’s energy savings allowed it to defer the addition of 1.6 GW of generating capacity, worth USD 373 million.10
rEfErEncEs
Eletrobras. 2012. “Procel Results 2012: Base Year 2011.” Web. October 2012. <http://www.procelinfo.com.br/main. asp?View=%7B5A08CAF0-06D1-4FFE-B335-95D83F8DFB 98%7D&Team=¶ms=itemID=%7BA1516CFD-2424-4E17- BA99-912E47D91F9D%7D;&UIPartUID=%7B05734935-6950-4E3F-A182-629352E9EB18%7D>
Carpio, Claudio et al. April 2010. “Energy Efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: Situation and Outlook.” Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Web. October 2012. <http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/xml/2/39412/ lcw280i.pdf>
Since it began, PROCEL has conserved 51.2 TWh of power at a cost of USD 621.6 million, paid for by Eletrobras, the Global Reversion Reserve and international funding.11
The Energy Efficiency Program is estimated to have conserved 7.5 TWh since 2000, with investments of USD 2.4 billion by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency.12
Recognizing the success of these energy efficiency programs, Brazil has begun to include estimates of future savings from these measures in long-term energy planning. For example, the National Energy Plan 2030 includes projected energy savings of between 4.0 and 15.5 GW over the next 20 years.13
Under a mid-range scenario for 2010 to 2030, the government estimates that the country will be able to save USD 15 billion to 18 billion by avoiding expansion of its electricity-generating capacity.14
EndnotEs
1 Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil. “Orientações Gerais para fabricantes e importadores sobre a Regulamentação de produtos no âmbitodo Programa Brasileiro de Etiquetagem.” Web. October 2012. <http:// www2.inmetro.gov.br/pbe/pdf/passo_a_passo_para_ etiquetagem.pdf>
2 Barbut, Monique. June 29, 2009. “United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility Project Document: Brazil, Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency in Buildings.” Global Environment Facility. Web. October 2012. <http://www.thegef.org/gef/sites/thegef.org/ files/repository/Brazil_Market_Transformation_For_Energy_ Efficiency_in_Buildings.pdf>
3 de M. Jannuzzi, Gilberto and Melo, Conrado A., Tripodi, Aline F. July 2012. “Políticas Públicas para promoção da Eficiência Energética e Microgeração Renovável em Edificações no Brasil: Uma Análise Multicritério.” International Energy Initiative: Latin America. Web. October 2012. <http:// www.iei-la.org/index.php/publications/politicas-publicas- para-promocao-da-eficiencia-energetica-e-microgeracao-
renovavel-em-edificacoes-no-brasil-uma-analise-multicriterio>
4 Carpio, Claudio et al. April 2010. “Energy Efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean: Situation and Outlook”. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Web. October 2012. <http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/ xml/2/39412/lcw280i.pdf>
5 Firmeza, Carlos E. “Energy Efficiency in Brazil and the Energy Efficiency Program Regulated by ANEEL”. Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil presentation, May 2010. Web. October 2012. < http://www.scribd.com/doc/40010138/Energy- Efficiency-in-Brazil-and-the-Energy-Efficiency-Program-Regulated-by-ANEEL>
6 Ibid.
7 Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil. October 2001. “Law 10,295 of October 17, 2001.” Web. October 2012. <http:// www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/LEIS_2001/L10295.htm>
8 Brazilian Electric Utility Company. 2012. “Procel Results 2012: Base Year 2011”. Web. October 2012. <http://www.procelinfo. com.br/main.asp?View=%7B5A08CAF0-06D1-4FFE-B335-95D83F8DFB98%7D&Team=¶ms=itemID=%7BA1516 CFD-2424-4E17-BA99-912E47D91F9D%7D;&UIPartUID=% 7B05734935-6950-4E3F-A182-629352E9EB18%7D> 9 Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil. June 2012.
“Monitoramento do Sistema Elétrico Brasileiro”. Web. October 2012. <http://www.mme.gov.br/see/menu/ publicacoes.html>
10 Brazilian Electric Utility Company. 2012. “Resultados Procel 2012: Ano Base 2011”. Web. October 2012. <http://www. procelinfo.com.br/main.asp?View=%7B5A08CAF0-06D1-4FFE-B335-95D83F8DFB98%7D&Team=¶ms=itemID=% 7BA1516CFD-2424-4E17-BA99-912E47D91F9D%7D;&UIPartUI D=%7B05734935-6950-4E3F-A182-629352E9EB18%7D> 11 Brazilian Electric Utility Company, 2012. op. cit.
12 National Electrical Energy Agency. September 2012. “ Informações Gerenciais”. Web. October 2012. <http://www. aneel.gov.br/arquivos/PDF/Z_IG%20set_2012.pdf>
13 Carpio, 2010, op. cit.
14 Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil. November 2007. “Plano Nacional de Energia 2030”. Web. October 2012. <http:// www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/economia/energia/planejamento/ plano-nacional-de-energia-2030-pne-2030>
Figure References
an Example of a national Energy conservation label for a refrigerator
Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil. “Informação ao Consumidor.” Web. October 2012. <http://www. inmetro.gov.br/consumidor/etiquetas.asp>
CCAP
CENTER FOR CLEAN AIR POLICY
