Energy efficiency policy for small network equipment

Panel: 8. Innovations in products, systems and building technologies

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Hans-Paul Siderius, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, The Netherlands
Katherine Dayem, Xergy Consulting

Abstract

Energy consumption of small network equipment (SNE) continues to grow as more products are connected to the Internet and use more data-demanding services such as video download and gaming. Previous studies estimate global SNE energy consumption of 179 TWh in 2020, increasing to 215 TWh in 2030. Much of this energy consumption could be avoided; researchers estimate that efficiency improvements – especially power scaling – could decrease energy consumption of SNE by 20 to 50 %. Current energy reduction efforts for SNE, however, are scarce and mostly of a voluntary, industry-led nature, such as the SNE Voluntary Agreements in the US and Canada or the Broadband Code of Conduct in the EU. These approaches are complex and tend to follow business as usual instead of driving innovation.

This paper explores options for mandatory energy efficiency measures, such as minimum efficiency requirements or energy labelling, for SNE based on a functional approach. Our analysis of SNE power data shows that products with similar functions can differ in power consumption, indicating that efficiency improvements exist. In addition, the analysis provides insight into the impact of various components (functions) on product power draw and builds a model to establish a reference value for the power consumption. An energy efficiency index (EEI) is then based on the reference value and can be used to set minimum requirements through ecodesign and an energy label. The minimum requirements assure that the least efficient products are banned from the market, while the energy label, through public procurement and green taxonomy, will stimulate the uptake of the most efficient products.