UK calls for higher EU motor and pump efficiency standards

The UK should press for urgent action in the European Union to raise energy efficiency standards for equipment including electric motors, fans and pumps. This is one of the recommendations in the Government`s recently published Energy White Paper which, although concentrating mainly on power generation issues, also looks at ways of improving energy efficiency in the UK.

In the document, the Government says it plans to reinforce measures to promote the sale of products with above-minimum efficiency levels. These measures could include fiscal instruments, and information tools, such as energy labelling.

The Government says it is impressed by industry`s voluntary efforts to improve efficiency standards and targets for items including electric motors. "We will encourage and support such industry self-commitments when these will deliver earlier or higher standards than mandatory measures alone," the White Paper says.

But it goes on to point out that mandatory standards at the EU level have been "very effective" at removing inefficient boilers, fridges and fluorescent lamp ballasts from the market.

The White Paper says that energy efficiency should account for more than half of the reductions in emissions (about 10m tonnes of carbon a year) that the Government has targeted for 2010 in its Climate Change Programme. Efficiency will also contribute about half of the extra savings in emissions (15-25m tonnes of carbon) that the UK is likely to need by 2020.