Washington (Platts)--27May2009

The National Research Council on Wednesday recommended that the US
Department of Energy should include in its appliance energy-efficiency
standards not only the efficiency of the individual appliance itself, but also
the life-cycle efficiency of producing the fuel needed to run it.

Whether an appliance, such as a water heater, refrigerator or dishwasher
runs on electricity, natural gas or some source of energy can have a large
impact on its overall effect on the environment, including the amount of
greenhouse gas emissions it is responsible for, the council found.

"Using that metric would provide the public with more comprehensive
information about the impacts of energy consumption on the environment, the
economy, and other national concerns, through the use of labels and other
means such as an enhanced web site," the report said.

Currently DOE considers only the amount of energy used by an appliance in
developing appliance standards. Under the council recommendations, DOE would
look at other factors, including the inefficiencies of electricity generation
and transmission, and net emissions from natural gas production, for example.

DOE is developing 15 appliance efficiency standards, and the White House
said five of the most important rules must be completed by August.

DOE requested NRC produce the study.

DOE was required by several laws dating back as far as 1975 to issue
efficiency standards on more than 30 kinds of commercial and home appliances,
including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers, but has failed to
finalize most of them.

After a 2005 lawsuit from 15 states, New York City and environmental
groups, DOE agreed to deadlines for issuing more stringent efficiency
standards for 22 types of appliances.

The deadlines vary, but the most distant is June 30, 2011. Before leaving
office, the administration of President George W. Bush issued standards for
seven, and 15 categories of appliances face deadlines in coming years,
according to the White House.

In a February memorandum to DOE, President Barack Obama asked the
department to finalize five standards as quickly as possible for appliances
that face deadlines before August 8. These cover nine categories of
appliances: ovens, lamps, microwaves, vending machines, dishwashers, three
types of boilers and air conditioning units.

DOE should then give priority to the development of other standards to
complete those that provide the most energy savings first, the memo said.

--Derek Sands, derek_sands@platts.com