The European Commission is discussing how to go about making Europe more efficient through the Energy Efficiency Directive. If pushed to its full potential, this Directive could secure massive energy and CO2 emissions savings and incidentally also enable savings on our energy bill.
This proposal contains three important levers to help us achieve an ‘energy efficient Europe’:
1. Local authorities must regularly refurbish their buildings to ensure they are as energy efficient as possible. They must also purchase only the most efficient products and services.
2. The second lever would be to improve the management of demand for energy using products, as we will be approaching limits to demand. If demand goes unchecked, there would be huge consequences for the climate.
3. Finally, energy suppliers need to be engaged to save energy through yearly, cumulative energy savings equivalent to 1.5% of their sales.
However, there is a big, gapping flaw. In order to measure the amount of energy saved by using these three levers, the Commission will set a standard value to each lever.
The problem is that energy suppliers can count existing technologies, which will soon be legally required to be in use anyway towards these savings targets. For instance, replacing the old incandescent light bulbs with energy saving bulbs can count towards that 1.5% savings target, despite the fact that the impending ban on incandescent bulbs would make this happen anyway.
This also puts the energy labeling scheme under the spotlight because by only achieving minimal legal requirements it seems some products, such as washing machines and fridges, will already be at the level A+ in the near future. This means many products would be rewarded for a minimum effort – hardly much of an incentive for manufacturers to improve their stock.
We believe energy savings obligations would be a great way to move towards a new model of energy services where the main mission would be to deliver the best service for citizens rather than selling them as much energy as possible. The best way to achieve this is by rewarding those who target strong, long-term savings and ensure that any new measures push beyond business as usual.