Abstract

Many domestic appliances and commercial equipment consume some electric power when they are switched off or not performing their primary purpose. The typical loss per appliance is low (from 1 to 25 W) but, when multiplied by the billions of appliances in houses and in commercial buildings, standby losses represent a significant fraction of total electricity use. Several initiatives to reduce standby losses have appeared in different parts of the world. One proposal, the 1-watt plan, seeks to harmonize these initiatives by establishing a single target for all appliances. This paper explains the background to the 1-watt plan, identifies some unresolved aspects, and gives some estimates of energy savings.

Paper

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Panels of

Panel 1: Policy (incentives, normative measures, policy mixes to achive CO_2 reduction)

Panel 2: Technologies and Products (innovation, marketing, market transformation)

Panel 4: Environmental Perspective (externalities and life cycle approaches, local and global impacts and incentatives)

Panel 3: Dynamics of Consumption (social and cultural perspectives, actors and their interactions)

Panel 5: Land use,Transportation and infrastructure (urban and regional planning, approaches to change in well entrenched systems)