Power-hungry refrigerators, freezers, and washing machines to disappear from the market
EU Parliament to resolve new standards for lower energy household appliances
The EU Parliament is due to decide tomorrow (Wednesday) on more stringent standards in the energy efficiency of refrigerators, freezers, and washing machines. Should the Parliament approve the proposals made by the EU Member States in late March, any washing machine, fridge or freezer with an energy efficiency class lower than ‘A’ would be eliminated from the market starting July 2010. A second stage beginning 1 July 2012 would prohibit the sale of refrigerators and freezers that have energy efficiency class ‘A’ that is valid until that time. Washing machines with energy efficiency class ‘A’ would largely be taken from the market as of 1 July 2013. ”I am delighted by these proposals. Should they be implemented, new labelling on power consumption could save 7.5 billion kilowatt hours of energy over current levels by 2020-- a volume equivalent to roughly two power plants with 800-megawatt output capacity. We would thereby save 3.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the EU”, said Dr. Thomas Holzmann, the Vice President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
