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Water Pumps and the Opportunity for Energy Savings
One such area of activity relates to the European Union’s ongoing revision of the
Eco-Design Directive and its Implementing Measures, which are intended to
facilitate a notable reduction in the energy used by a broad range of products
and equipment, be they for domestic, commercial, or industrial applications.
In essence, Europump, on behalf of its member associations throughout Europe,
want to implement the extended product approach (EPA) for water pumps. This
would mean, in energy use assessment terms as required by the Directive, that
not only should the actual pump be included, but also the associated electric
motor and control system, which collectively comprise the entire pumping unit.
Interestingly, and by way of precedence, this approach has already been readily
accepted in the case of heating pumps.Total life cycle cost counts
This proposal would have a huge impact on energy efficiency. After China and
the USA, the continent of Europe has the third largest electricity consumption in
the world – around 3,300 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. More than 300 TWh of
this is accounted for by electric pumps. That is the equivalent to the generated
output of 30 large coal-fired power plants.The Eco-Design Directive aims to improve the environmental impact of energyintensive products through optimal design. Europump, has determined that water
pumps can reduce electricity consumption by 35 TWh from 137 TWh a year. This
would make it possible to shut down 4 coal-fired power stations. However, these
enormous energy savings can only be achieved if indeed the narrow product
approach is abandoned in favour of an extended product approach; with the
aggregated savings being considered over the entire life cycle of the product and
its related system.
Making the right climate protection decisions
Representations are ongoing, with the pump industry determined to encourage
the legislators to move away from the existing product approach that was
adopted in 2009 for water pumps.
Frank Ennenbach, Chairman of the Standards Commission at Europump says,
“We see a real danger that we will not save the 35 TWh that we could. We will
then miss the opportunity to make a major contribution to sustainability and
climate protection.” He continued, “We have everything we need. We just need
the legislator to make the right decisions.”
In concluding, Europump support the demand of pump manufacturers to move
from the ‘narrow’ to the ‘extended’ product approach when assessing the energy
efficiency for water pumps. -
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