The September 19, 2009 New York Times article Plugged-In Age Feeds a Hunger for Electricity, outlines how fast electricity use from consumer electronics is rising all over the world. According to the article, consumer electronics represent 15 percent of household power demand worldwide and American households now have around 25 consumer electronic products, up from just three in 1980.The International Energy Agency estimates these numbers will triple over the next two decades, making it more difficult to reduce global energy consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. The article concludes that most energy experts agree that mandatory efficiency rules on how much energy these devices may use are the best solution to address the rising demand and energy consumption.
For over a decade, the Ecos Research and Policy Solutions group has been on the forefront of conducting the research that fuels the standards and partnering with policy makers to draft effective policies surrounding energy efficiency guidelines and regulations.
Ecos founder and Senior Research Fellow Chris Calwell was quoted in the New York Times article and re-iterates Ecos standpoint that the implementation of efficiency standards are one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve energy savings.
Ecos has partnered with the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) on video game console and flat panel television energy consumption. Research partnerships like these have helped pave the way for new efficiency standards, such as the new television standards recently proposed by the California Energy Commission that would cut the state’s power consumption in half by 2013. Ecos research desktop computer and server energy use led to the implementation of the 80 PLUS program which has united the computer industry and public utilities in a ground breaking effort to bring higher efficiency products to market.
