EU figures
Residential sector
Picking the best ENERGY STAR equipment really matters for the environment. Office equipment accounts for a significant —and rising— share of total electricity consumption.
For the residential sector, the European Climate Change Programme forecasts a rise from 1 Mt (1990) to 29 Mt (2010 baseline) in annual greenhouse gas emissions from the use of EU-15 office equipment. This will be caused by a rise in annual EU electricity consumption from 2 TWh (1990) to 64 TWh (2010 baseline). This increase is enough to wipe out most of the (successful) efforts since 1990 to make appliances (fridges, washing machines, etc.) and lighting (CFL's) more energy efficient!! Please note, that these figures are valid for the EU-15. The enlarged EU-25 will see a lower current penetration, but probably a higher growth rate for office equipment.
By 2010, office equipment (excluding consumer electronics) will make up some 8.9% of the electricity bill of the average EU household. At a rate of € 0.10/kWh , average electricity expenditure per EU household on residential office equipment will be over € 40/yr. Total annual electricity expenditure for EU-15 citizens for home office equipment will be close to € 7-8 billion (€ 7000-8000 million) .
Office equipment is by far the fastest riser on (at least) the residential electricity bill, but it is also the group of products with the highest saving potential.
The energy-saving potential of office equipment with appropriate policies and measures is over 50%. The ECCP indicates that electricity consumption could drop to 31 TWh/yr., resulting in CO2-eq. emissions of 14 Mt/yr. respectively. Total annual electricity expenditure for EU-15 citizens for home office equipment could drop to € 4 billion (€ 4000 million).
Tertiary sector
Picking the best ENERGY STAR equipment really matters for the environment. Office equipment accounts for a significant —and rising— share of total electricity consumption in the tertiary sector.
Office Equipment EU-15
Source: ECCP 2nd Progress Report, Can we meet our Kyoto targets?, 2003.
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For the tertiary sector, a rise is expected from 14 Mt (1990) to 34 Mt (2010 baseline) per year in annual CO2-eq. emissions, equivalent to 27 (1990) and 76 TWh (2010 baseline) in electricity consumption. By 2010, electricity consumption of office equipment will account for 11.4% of the total in the tertiary sector. Furthermore, heat dissipation by the equipment will account for a part of the air conditioning load (projected total EU-15 air conditioning electricity consumption in 2010 baseline is 123 TWh/yr) . At a COP of 3, cooling away 76 TWh would take roughly 25 TWh. This is mostly relevant in summer/spring, so the estimated contribution would be in the range of 10-20 TWh/year or ca. 10% of total air conditioning expenditure). Please note, that these figures are valid for the EU-15. The enlarged EU-25 will see a lower current penetration, but probably a higher growth rate for office equipment.
At a rate of € 0.10/kWh, total direct (76 TWh) and indirect (say 14 TWh) electricity expenditure on office equipment by all EU-15 sectors will be around € 9 billion (€ 9 000 million) annually in the 2010 baseline.
Office equipment is a fast riser on (at least) the tertiary sector electricity bill, but it is also the group of products with the highest saving potential. Energy saving potential of office equipment with appropriate policies and measures is over 50%. The ECCP indicates that direct electricity consumption figures of 34 TWh/yr. are feasible for the 2010 tertiary sector, resulting in CO2-eq. emissions of 15 Mt/yr.. Total electricity expenditure by all EU-15 sectors, at an electricity rate of € 0.10/kWh mentioned above, would drop to € 4-5 billion.