Energy efficiency labels to become mandatory for electrical appliances

UAE will make energy efficiency labelling mandatory by 2013 for a wide range of household electrical appliances such as air conditioners and lights, as part of its energy conservation efforts to reduce the nation's ecological footprint. "All brands of household electrical appliances such as ACs and lights in the UAE market will have to have energy efficiency labelling on them by 2013," Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, and Chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, said yesterday. This is one amongst the measures being introduced with the vision of transforming UAE into a low-carbon green economy, he said, speaking at the fourth edition of the annual Greenomics conference, organised by the ministry in association with LG Electronics. According to the 2010 Living Planet Report by the World Wildlife Fund, UAE residents have the biggest ecological footprint in the world. Carbon footprint If everyone in the world consumed natural resources like a UAE resident, 4.5 planets would be required to sustain the consumption levels. More than 80 per cent of UAE's carbon footprint is due to carbon-intensive goods and services, such as energy and water. "Carbon footprint resulting from the production and consumption of electrical energy is a significant challenge before us, because of the increasing demand for electrical power." It is important to strike a balance, as the energy demand will go up from 24,0000 MW in 2010 to about 90,000 MW in 2030 if the current trends continue, Bin Fahd said. "The most important aspect is to change the habits of over-consumption and this can be achieved through several mechanisms such as new legislation, increasing tariffs, setting technical specifications and increasing awareness," he added. The government rolled out the energy efficiency labelling system for window type and split-system earlier this year. By 2012, this will be extended to lamps and washing machines and by 2013 for ducted ACs. More than 600,000 units of split and window ACs, to be traded in the UAE, are expected to comply with the Energy Efficiency Standard by 2013. "Greenomics is part of LG's efforts to rationalise energy consumption in homes by introducing a full range of innovative and green products," Ki Wan Kim, CEO and President of LG Electronics Middle Eat and Africa, said.