On Thursday the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed new energy efficiency standards for beverage vending machines (a.k.a., soda or pop machines) that could cut energy usage by about 42% in new machines, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
However, even larger savings could have been achieved if the DOE had required energy-saving smart controls, the groups said.
“With roughly 3 million beverage vending machines in the U.S., or 1 for every 100 Americans, a strong national standard means real savings for all the universities, park districts, hotels, and other institutions and businesses that pay the electric bills for these machines,” Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said.
These standards build on a series of improvements in vending machine efficiency achieved over the past decade. According to Horowitz, who pioneered research into vending machine energy use, many machines used as much as 3,000 to 5,000 kilowatt-hours per year in the mid-1990s. With the new standards, per unit energy use will be no more than about 1,400 to 1,800 kilowatt-hours per year. Once the new standards take effect in three years, each typical new machine will save about $320 per year compared to an older machine.
The standards–proposed on Thursday–reduce energy use of the increasingly popular
glass front machines by 35 to 42% compared to basic machines available
today, but for the older style, solid front machines, energy use is
reduced by just 15%.
“Combined with the other two dozen appliance standards due within the next four years, this standard will help America use energy resources more efficiently," Andrew deLaski, Executive Director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), said.
Under court orders and Congressional deadlines, DOE must complete about 25 new standards by January 2012, covering everything from fluorescent tube lights used in offices to home refrigerators to water heaters to air conditioners.
One key to large savings for many products is smart controls
technologies. For example, even more savings could be achieved for
vending machines if DOE had required controls that dim or shut off
machine lighting or which allow beverage temperatures to float up
during extended periods of non-use. But, during the previous
administration, DOE decided it lacked authority to include more than
one efficiency requirement for any one product (e.g., a maximum daily
energy use and a controls requirement), so the agency did not even
evaluate the costs and benefits of controls. It’s probably too late to
consider controls for vending machines since a final rule is due in
early August, but controls and other multi-part standards will be
important for other products, too.
“It’s time to bring DOE’s standards into the 21st century by including controls,” said Steven Nadel, Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). “Being smart about energy efficiency standards includes considering smart controls, even when that means a standard may have more than one component.”
Pending omnibus climate and energy legislation would make DOE authority for multi-component standards clear. Section 213(a) of the Waxman-Markey bill specifies that DOE can include more than one efficiency requirement for any given product.
Altogether, according to DOE, the proposed new beverage machine standards could save about 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity over 30 years (or about one-tenth of one quad of primary energy). This is enough electricity to meet the needs of about 800,000 typical U.S. homes for one year.
The standards would save vending machine property owners about $250 million over thirty years.
According to preliminary estimates by ACEEE, the two dozen standards due by January 2012 could altogether reduce projected 2020 U.S. electricity use by at least 165 billion kilowatt-hours, or about 4%. While vending machines are one of the smaller standards ranked by energy savings, it will take strong standards for each of the 25 products to meet ambitious energy savings goals. The biggest potential energy saver among the pending standards concerns fluorescent tube light bulbs and reflector light bulbs. A final standard for these lighting products is due by the end of June.
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