The choices we make about how we use energy are not only about energy consumption but also about the energy efficient electronic appliances we choose to produce. For a long time, we harbored the delusion that miniaturization equally meant getting more energy efficient appliances. Why this consideration is a misconception and does not apply and what else has to be done about electronics and energy consumption is the main focus of the 3 rd international congress “Electronics Goes Green 2008 +“ organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), Berlin. As an example for a possible reduction of energy costs until 2020 by using and developing intelligent electronics, the European total energy consumption of all home and office appliances could be reduced by the total consumption of Denmark today. Climate and environmental protection proved to be major subject matters in the electronic industry for many years. One of the reasons might be the legislative process initiated by the European Union to reduce potential environmental impacts caused by electric and electronical products about 10 years ago. The first steps towards environmental protection were made by restricting the use of hazardous metals (RoHS Directive). Next came guidelines for the collection and recycling of electronic waste (WEEE Directive). Nowadays energy consumption takes center stage in the public interest. With the European Ecodesign Guideline (EuP Directive) a product-specific minimum standard regulating energy and resource efficiency will be set and even defined by law in the upcoming future. When the laws regulating energy efficiency and environmental aspects will be in effect they are – according to experts – going to support and form a market asking for a constant supply of environmentally compatible but nevertheless high-end products. Electronics is a highly innovative branch of industry with a substantial potential for developing energy efficient products or environmentally sensitive raw materials. This means that electronic products will not only be more energy efficient helping to reduce energy consumption in general but due to the unlimited functionality of electronics as well as information and communication technology will make an additional contribution to the economization of energy consumption of machines and technical facilities, automotives and even building services engineering.
However, it is obvious that electronics and ICT both are parts of the problem but they are also equally part of the future solution. Current studies for the European Commission conducted by Fraunhofer IZM identify products and applications causing a multiplication of the current energy consumption in the mid and long run. High on the list are High Definition TVs, set-top-boxes and especially big flat screens. According to recent predictions TV-based consumption of 54 TWh in the year 2005 will nearly double to 91 TWh by 2010. Fraunhofer IZM identified a high potential for improvement at a minimum of 40 %. Exhausting this potential, TV-based current consumption could be stabilized at 60 TWh by 2020.
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