Page 19 - European Energy Innovation - winter 2017 publication
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Winter 2017 European Energy Innovation    19

                                                                                    TV & DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY

                                          Photo: © Freepik

Photo: © manufuture2017.eu – Edmond Mäll  that energy consumption will be           There is no evidence that recent             high-performance models would not
                                          decreasing by 15% at least until 2025.1   technological improvement rates              be able to comply with the proposed
                                                                                    can be upheld in the future. In              limits of the draft regulation, these
                                          These efforts must be further             fact, it is unlikely judging from the        would only be available for European
                                          supported by an adequate                  currently available technology.              consumers to a much lesser extent.
                                          regulatory framework, and
                                          DIGITALEUROPE insists that any            The proposed regulation is based on          Facing reality: The way forward
                                          requirement for market access             a false assumption: it presumes that         requires taking stock of the realistic
                                          regulations must be realistic. In its     energy performance of displays would         improvement rates in energy
                                          current state, the draft Energy Label     improve annually by 7.5% on a linear         consumption while remaining open
                                          regulation is a missed opportunity.       basis. This incorrect analysis is most       towards technological innovations.
                                                                                    likely based on the improvement rates
                                          The impact of the proposed measures       identified during the phase-out of           Indeed, had the developments within
                                          would be disproportionate and even        cold-cathode fluorescent (CCFL) lamps,       the last 6 years been linear, an average
                                          more dramatic for televisions and         which led to massive energy efficiency       improvement rate of 6.9% would have
                                          monitors with the most sophisticated      gains for the whole sector. However,         been achieved. However, reality is far
                                          and high-end features. Instead of         the phasing out of an old technology         from being linear, and current energy
                                          targeting the least efficient models and  does not happen every year, and the          efficiency standards for displays are
                                          making them redundant, it will prevent    technological improvements rate              very close to the technically achievable
                                          a large part of innovative and energy-    should not be considered constant, nor       limit. Future potential savings are thus
                                          efficient products from being sold        taken for granted.                           very hard to predict as they can only
                                          in the EU and will, therefore, reduce                                                  occur when new technologies become
                                          the variety of products available to      In fact, further improvement of display      available and when the market is ready
                                          European consumers.                       LED backlighting is hardly possible,         to adopt them.
                                                                                    and new display technologies are yet
                                          If the proposed measures go through,      to mature. It is hence difficult to foresee  It is essential for a regulatory
                                          over 90% of displays, evaluated as        whether other upgrades could prolong         framework to guarantee the freedom
                                          being energy-efficient today, will be     the energy improvement trend.                to innovate and to enable products
                                          marked with the energy-efficiency                                                      to develop and mature as expected
                                          labels F and G. The proposed              In addition, the growing consumer            in a normal design and production
                                          standards would, therefore, mislead       demand for displays with high-               cycle. Regulation must be considered
                                          consumers and limit the effectiveness     performance features such as wider           only when these conditions are not
                                          of the energy label as a purchase         screen or connectivity functionalities       met, or if there’s been a significant
                                          decision-making tool.                     must also be considered. As numerous         market failure. To lessen the negative

                                          1. Third study regarding the ICT-related energy consumption in Germany with forecasts for the years 2015, 2020 and 2025, Fraunhofer IZM and Borderstep Institut
                                             on behalf of the BMWi, 2016.

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