Lessons learned from international energy labelling programs for strengthening the China Energy Label program

摘要

China first introduced the China Energy Label, its mandatory energy information label, in 2005 and it has expanded over the last eleven years to cover 33 key energy-using products. This energy labelling program, along with the complementary mandatory efficiency standards and subsidies for efficient products, have contributed to driving market transformation with growing shares for efficient products and appliances. While successful, policy and technical barriers to effectively implementing the China Energy Label, particularly in terms of compliance, exist. Key barriers include an incomplete legal basis, unclear responsibilities, lack of effective information sharing and distribution, lack of necessary resources and lack of systematic monitoring of compliance. This study reviews some of the longest existing and most successful international energy labelling programs in order to identify remaining gaps in the Chinese program and recommend specific areas for improvement. We conducted an international technical review of the U.S. EnergyGuide and U.S. ENERGY STAR labels, the Australia Energy Label, the European Union Energy Label, and the Japan Top Runner and Energy Saving Label programs to identify success factors and best practices for the following programmatic elements: legal basis and institutions, technical specification and development, implementation, enforcement and penalties, financial and human resources, technical capacity, information sharing, program evaluation and stakeholder participation and involvement. Based on a qualitative evaluation of the actual barriers and challenges to the implementation of the China Energy Label, we conducted a gap analysis between the China Energy Label and international best practices to identify areas for improvement. Specific policy recommendations for improving each programmatic element of the China Energy Label to strengthen the program are provided.