Representative Michael Honda (D-CA), who represents California’s Silicon Valley in the US House, reintroduced a bill this week to rein in the rampant energy consumption of electronics, such as iPods, TVs and computers.
The proliferation of electronics could wipe out gains in energy efficiency across the world. Bby 2030, electronics could consume triple the energy they use now – the equivalent of all the electricity consumed by households in the US and Japan combined, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.
Over 15,000 wind turbines (or 200 nuclear power plants) would have to be built just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030. The electric bill to power household electronics would top $200 billion a year, compared with last year’s bill of $80 billion, says the IEA.
The Smart Electronics Act would require the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report to Congress within a year on how to address these energy issues.
Under the bill, the DOE and EPA would standardize a process for defining, categorizing, and ranking technologies as "smart," and whether Energy Star (now used mostly for appliances) should be extended to smart electronics.
Smart electronics are defined in the bill as consumer electronics with characteristics such as stand-by power, on-demand and variable processing speed semiconductors, off-peak operation and charging, and low-power switchable modes.
The agencies would also be required to assess the global growth of electronics usage and the associated energy consumption.
"This proliferation of electronic devices, if not made more energy efficient, will undermine efforts to increase energy security and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming," says Representative Honda. "The answer to this problem will not be found in stemming the tide of electronic gadget envy, no matter how functional or entertaining the device. The answer is found in better devices that are built more efficiently and run on less energy."
Most of this increase in consumer electronics will occur in developing countries, where economic growth is outpacing developed nations and ownership rates of gadgets are lowest.
"This legislation helps us green the electronics industry by providing the private sector with reliable standards and incentives and by educating and empowering consumers to make smarter and more efficient choices – all of which help cool the planet," Honda adds.
Nanotechnology Bill
Rep. Honda also introduced separate legislation to promote the development and commercialization of nanotechnology.
Under the Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities (NANO) Act, the federal government would develop a roadmap, incentives and research strategy designed to support the industry.
It also addresses concerns that have been raised about whether the federal government is doing enough to address potential health and safety risks associated with nanotechnology.
"Nanotechnology has the potential to create entirely new industries and radically transform the basis of competition in other fields," Honda says.
A federal strategy for supporting the industry would help resolve the uncertainty that’s one of the major obstacles to commercialization – uncertainty about what the risks might be and uncertainty about how the federal government might regulate nanotechnology in the future.
NANO draws on the work of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, which Honda convened as a member of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition.
Some of the directives in the NANO Act include:
- create a public-private investment partnership to address the nanotechnology commercialization gap
- establish a tax credit for investment in nanotechnology firms
- establish grant programs for nanotechnology research to address specific challenges in the areas of energy, environment, homeland security, and health
- establish a tax credit for nanotechnology education and training program expenses
- establish a grant program to support the development of curriculum materials for interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses at higher education institutions
- calls for development of a strategy for increasing interaction on nanotechnology interests between DOE national labs and the informal science education community
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