Industrial electric motor systems consume more than 600 billion kWh annually, accounting for more than 50% of China’s electricity use. There are large opportunities to improve the efficiency of motor systems. Electric motors in China are approximately 2-4% less efficient on average than motors in the U.S. and Canada. Fans and pumps in China are approximately 3-5% less efficient than in developed countries. More optimized design, including appropriate sizing and use of speed control strategies, can reduce energy use by 20% or more in many motor-driven system applications. Unfortunately, few Chinese enterprises use or even know about these energy-saving practices. Opportunities for motor system improvements are probably greater in China than in the U.S. or Europe.

In response to this opportunity, China has established the China Motor Systems Energy Conservation Program in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Energy Foundation. This paper will describe the overall structure of the program. Elements include work to develop minimum efficiency standards for motors, a voluntary “green motor” labeling program for high-efficiency motors, efforts to develop and promote motor system management guidelines, and an intensive training, technical assistance and financing program to promote optimization of key motor systems in two pilot provinces, Shanghai and Jiangsu.

This year, an international team of experts is working with twenty Chinese experts in a series of “train the trainer” sessions designed to assist Chinese experts to integrate a systems approach into their work in Chinese industry. We will focus on progress to date including plant assessment techniques and significant considerations in adapting market-based voluntary program techniques to the Chinese business environment.

Authors: Aimee McKane, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Zou Guijin, China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation

Robert Williams, United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Steven Nadel, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Vestal Tutterow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Information from: 2002 Proceedings, Energy Efficiency in Motor Driven Systems (EEMODS) Conference in Treviso, Italy

China has experienced tremendous growth in the production and sales of room air conditioners over the last decade. Although minimum room air conditioner energy efficiency standards have been in effect since 1989, no efforts were made during most of the 1990s to update the standard to be more reflective of current market conditions. But in 1999, China’s State Bureau of Technical Supervision (SBTS) included in their 1999 plan the development and revision of the 1989 room air conditioner standard. SBTS signed an agreement with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) for an air conditioner standards training program, supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Based on the engineering and lifecycle cost analyses performed, the most predominant type of room air conditioner in the Chinese market (split-type with a cooling capacity between 2500 and 4500 W (8500 Btu/h and 15,300 Btu/h)) can have its efficiency increased cost-effectively to an energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 2.92 W/W (9.9 Btu/hr/W). If an EER standard of 2.92 W/W became effective in 2001, Chinese consumers would be estimated to save over 3.5 billion Yuan (420 million U.S. dollars) over the period of 2001-2020. Carbon emissions over the same period would be reduced by approximately 12 million metric tonnes.

Authors: David Fridley, Gregory Rosenquist, Jiang Lin, Li Aixian, Xin Dingguo, and Cheng Jianhong

Information from: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS), and Beijing Energy Efficiency Center (BECon)