INTERNET BUSINESSES

Archive for June, 2010

by Daniel Stouffer

As one of the most proactive government blocks when it comes to initiatives on emissions control and climate change, the European Union continues to set the standards for progress and efficiency. Recently, the EU have issued new rules on energy efficiency that will expand the need to display labels on all commercial, industrial and household equipment and appliances. As part of the agenda in the war against climate change, this initiative shall help ensure energy efficiency which shall be a top priority of the forward commercial agenda.

The rules on energy efficiency issued by the European Parliament insist that all building that are new and constructed after 2020 should have to be powered by renewable energy sources. Buildings account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gases emitted and it has long been recognized that stringent action should be taken to apply energy efficiency rules for new building stock.

The EU has been one of the most proactive governmental blocks pertaining to the war against climate change and in controlling emissions, continuously setting high standards of energy efficiency. They have recently issued new energy efficiency rules that expand the need to display labels on industrial, commercial and household appliances and machines. This is part of a sweeping roster change, aimed at ensuring that energy efficiency is at the top of the commercial agenda going forward.

Since buildings have a lifespan of approximately 50 years, the environmental impact should not be underestimated. Renovation and retrofitting can only go so far and new emphasis is being placed on sustainable efforts during the process of construction, as well as during the design phase. The European Union’s energy efficiency rules dictate that all buildings made after 2020 will conform to this philosophy.

On the other hand, the European Parliament is already convinced that education is important in order to help achieve standards of high energy efficiency, and compels the labeling of all industrial, commercial, and household appliances and machines that consume energy. Windows and framework must also be appropriately labeled, so that users can see how much energy they are responsible for and can choose wisely, in advance.

If individuals, corporations, or consumers possess all the correct information, they can choose to include appliances which work well based on their objectives for sustainability. Each appliance or asset must perform with ultimate energy efficiency in the “carbon era” of tomorrow, or the user will be responsible for additional fees in one way or another.

The concept of carbon taxation or “cap and trade” restrictions is not new in the European Union, as their Energy Efficiency Scheme has been in place since 2005. These concepts are only beginning to dawn in the United States, where legislation is finally under consideration, part of which will likely include cap and trade the taxation in that country.

In order to provide detailed information pertaining to energy use and carbon emissions, procedures and systems need to be implemented at the boardroom level for each organization. Quite apart from greenhouse gas reduction, energy efficiency drives savings, which every organization should be focusing on these days.

From all over the world, governments are likely to agree that we have to aim for up to 80% GHG emissions reduction, at par with the 1990 levels by the time we reach 2050. If not, considerable and detrimental change could be caused to climate and weather patterns. This level of change will, nevertheless, call for consistent and urgent action and implementation of new energy efficiency rules, everywhere.

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