Corrected Efficiency Data Comes Out in the Wash

WASHINGTON (CN) - Higher efficiency standards for consumer clothes washers could save the equivalent of two days of domestic gasoline consumption and eliminate the need for approximately 18 megawatts of electric generating capacity by 2043, according to revised data released by the Department of Energy.

The DOE revised its estimate of potential energy conservation after consumer clothes washer manufacturers called for independent testing of the DOE's figures for top-loading washers, which the industry believed were overly optimistic.

In addition to reduced energy consumption, the DOE estimates that the proposed efficiency standards will save over 143 billion gallons of cumulative water consumption between 2013 and 2043. The proposed standards are predicted to have other environmental benefits including greenhouse gas emission reductions of 5.1 million tons of carbon dioxide 2013 to 2043.

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