Status of European appliance standards

The European Community (EC) recently commissioned a study of the impact of potential appliance standards on electricity consumption in the twelve EC nations. This study looks at refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, and clothes dryers. The impact of minimum efficiency standards on electricity use over the time period from 1995--2010 is estimated. The results of this study were presented to the EC in September of 1991. Revisions were made to the draft report and final copies sent to all interested parties. The member nations of the EC will soon consider whether they wish to implement uniform energy efficiency standards that would take effect in 1995. The results of the study described above will be presented and the political considerations will be discussed. In addition, data describing the appliance market in Europe will be presented.