查看文章

Technological innovation is increasing the resource efficiency of household appliances, indeed the new generation of appliances is far more efficient than previous models. Eco-efficiency in the use phase is a critical factor for household appliances, as the analysis of their life cycle reveals that the major consumption of energy and water happpens in the use or operation phase. On this basis it is possible to consider the replacement of old (in-efficient) appliances with the new, most efficient available products as an effective strategy to increase eco-efficiency. This paper is grounded on this hypothesis and is aimed at proposing a quantitative evaluation of the effects of the replacement of the whole stock of household appliances in Australia with the most efficient available technology. The calculation provides elements for discussion about the capability of existing technologies to generate substantial reductions …