Energy Efficiency & EE Goods Flashcards
Name three business drivers in driving energy efficiency improvements.
- Legislation
- Voluntary Standards
- Mandatory consumer energy efficiency labelling
What is the ‘Total Cost of Ownership’? Why are consumers likely to buy energy efficient products?
- Manufacturers invest in energy efficiency technology.
- Costs are offset in their product price to consumers.
- Increasing electricity costs.
What is market failure in relation to energy efficiency?
- Reality doesn’t match the economic ideal.
- People don’t know the Total Cost of Ownership, so buy cheap.
- In companies, the department purchasing the equipment may not be paying the energy bills.
- Features prioritised over efficiency.
What is ‘first mover disadvantage’?
- The concept that companies that invest more into developing new, more efficient technologies lose out on profit when compared to competitors.
Name three ‘economically rational’ interventions to combat market failure.
- Ecolabelling: make it simpler for customers.
- EuP Directive: legislate requirements.
- Climate Savers Computing Initiative: collective action.
Name the two factors contributing to calculation of the Reference Power. How is the rating calculated?
- Basic Power
- Area Factor
- Ratio of actual power to reference power is calculated to give the rating from A+++ to G.
Detail some features of the Sony Bravia to improve energy efficiency.
- Dimming in response to ambient light.
- Micro-tubular hot cathode fluorescent backlight.
- Auto-switch off.
- Physical off switch.
How does the use of coloured labels also impact customer preference?
- Green = good, red = bad.
- Psychological.
What is ‘EnergyStar’? How does it impact businesses? What is a drawback?
- A US-originated, non-compulsory labelling system.
- Products must pass an absolute threshold to receive the label.
- Corporate/institutional/governmental buyers want an energy efficient purchasing policy.
- Not getting it can thus have a negative impact on sales.
- The drawback is that it is self-certified, meaning it can be associated with bogus products.
What is the ‘EU EcoDesign of Energy-Related Products’?
- Built on ‘Energy using Products’ initiative (EuP).
- Aims to harmonise energy requirements across the EU.
- Framework Directive (easy to add new requirements).
- Applies to any energy related product.
- Places legal requirements on product performance.
What was the ‘Energy using Products’ initiative?
- Introduced in 2008 to improve the standby power of electronic devices.
- Requires <1W standby within 12 months, <0.5W standby within 24 months.
What is the ‘rebound effect’ in relation to energy efficiency? Relate this to computing.
- Energy efficiency saves money, thus consumers are likely to buy more.
- Gains of efficiency are lost to increased use.
- Clear in the IT industry (1000x performance improvement but 14% yearly use increase).
- Computational power is a highly elastic good.
- More people can afford it.
- Existing customers use it more.
- Innovation is stimulated and more services come into being.
Define eWaste. Why is it more toxic than regular waste streams.
- Any product with an electrical power supply.
- Contains mercury, lead and cadium.
Where does value lie in the correct disposal of eWaste?
- Compliance: ensures laws are met.
- Risk mitigation: avoid data loss and bad publicity.
- Contains valuable materials: possible to recover 90% of base materials and 97% of precious metals.
Name and briefly describe the four key processes involved in eWaste recycling.
- Collection
- Takeback at point of sale.
- Refuse separation. - Dismantling
- Key materials removed manually and sorted.
- Coarse-crushing can be used. - Pre-Processing
- Shredding of circuit boards etc and further material separation. - End-Processing
- Final metal recovery.
- Ferrous fractions to steel plants.
- Aluminium fractions to smelters.
- PCBs to integrated metal smelters.
What is a disadvantage of smelting reclaimed material fractions? Name a different technique.
- Burns impurities and releases toxic VOCs and dioxins.
- Hydromettalurgy.
Why do many companies not bother with material recovery from end-of-life products?
- Cost of recovery is higher than cost of recovered materials. Thus more of a liability than an asset.
What are the goals of the ‘extended consumer responsibility’?
- Source reduction.
- Waste prevention and improved management of hazardous waste.
- Design of more environmentally compatible products.
- Closure of material loops to promote sustainable development.
Name the advantages and a disadvantage of individual consumer responsibility.
- Provides direct economic incentive to companies to design with end-of-life, re-use, and recyclability.
- How does one deal with eWaste of companies that no longer exist.
What is the ‘sectoral producer responsibility’ scheme?
- At the start of the scheme, producers pay into a pot based on current market share.
- As the scheme progresses, producers pay a tariff to the pot for goods they manufacture.
- Goods collected at end-of-life.
- End-of-life processors claim from the pot as the relevant goods come to them.
What is the purpose of the WEEE directive?
Aims to impose:
- sectoral responsibility on existing goods.
- producer responsibility on sale of new goods.
What is the purpose of the ‘Reduction of Hazardous Substances’ directive?
Takes the ‘system’ into account and makes end-of-life processes easier to manage:
- Easier and cheaper to recycle.
- Reduces the impact of improperly disposed eWaste.
- Places limits of the concentrations of controlled substances that could be separated manually.
What is the ‘Basel Convention’?
- Controls the movement of hazardous waste between countries, particularly to less-developed for disposal.
- Includes eWaste.
- Requires ‘prior informed consent’ by receiving nation.
What is the BAN Amendment? How can it be subverted? How can this be mitigated?
- Prohibits movement of waste shipment to a number of countries.
- Equipment often non-functional, or of no use to receiving nation.
- Labelled as second-hand.
- Enforced using a ‘chain of custody tracker’/
