Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment
Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment
Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Data obtained by Market Transformation Programme ((MTP)), 2006) and by<br />
author, November 2006<br />
From <strong>the</strong> above we can see that <strong>the</strong> share <strong>of</strong> hot tubs grows from 4.22% in<br />
2005 to 7.38% in 2020<br />
2.5 Government regulations<br />
Looking at <strong>the</strong> foregoing we can see that hot tubs do use a large amount <strong>of</strong><br />
energy, and that is an important issue if you compare <strong>the</strong>ir total UK energy<br />
consumption with o<strong>the</strong>r appliances. This highlights <strong>the</strong> need for government<br />
regulations which would influence manufacturers and inform consumers.<br />
Currently manufacturers do not clearly identify <strong>the</strong> efficiency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir products,<br />
and no baseline exists to measure products against, which can result in <strong>the</strong><br />
misselling or at <strong>the</strong> least misinforming consumers. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, regulations should<br />
be established for hot tub manufacturing. Which government body should be<br />
taking action in this matter?<br />
The MTP is part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Department for <strong>Environment</strong>, Food and Rural Affairs<br />
(DEFRA) and supports UK government policy on sustainable products. Its aim<br />
is to achieve sustainable improvements in <strong>the</strong> resource efficiency <strong>of</strong> products,<br />
systems and services where <strong>the</strong>se are critical to <strong>the</strong> delivery <strong>of</strong> Government<br />
commitments in areas including climate change, water efficiency and waste<br />
reduction (MTP, 2006, online)). MTP manage <strong>the</strong> UK energy labelling which<br />
we see within retail for white goods. According to a spokesperson for <strong>the</strong><br />
MTP (Evans, MTP, telephone conversation in October 2006), <strong>the</strong> high<br />
energy usage <strong>of</strong> hot tubs has only recently come to <strong>the</strong> attention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> MTP,<br />
but no action has been taken yet. The EU energy labelling is to be revised<br />
next year, and <strong>the</strong> UK is proposing to widen <strong>the</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> products with<br />
energy labelling hopefully to include hot tubs. To get exact information on <strong>the</strong><br />
amount <strong>of</strong> hot tubs in <strong>the</strong> UK, <strong>the</strong> MTP would (at high cost) have to purchase<br />
market information from a market research company. This is <strong>the</strong> same for<br />
all commercial products, as manufacturers are very secretive about sales<br />
figures.<br />
200 Student Essay: Mirjam Lytton-Lange