Household energy consumption exists of direct energy requirement (through energy carriers such as electricity, petrol and gas) as well as indirect energy requirement (energy embodied in products and services). The share of both is approximately a half. This energy is mainly generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to the emission of greenhouse gasses. These gasses lead to an enhancement of the greenhouse effect, which in turn will lead to global and regional climate changes. Reduction of energy requirement is therefore important. One of the areas where households can reduce their energy use is within textile care and maintenance, including both direct and indirect energy requirements. This can be done by technical as well as behavioural changes.
In this document energy reduction options for the domestic cleaning of textile are discussed and quantified. The goal is to describe reduction options that can be applied by consumers. Only options are taken into account, which are feasible for Dutch consumers nowadays. Technical options not available on the market yet for consumers are excluded from the analysis, such as heat-pump driers and otherwise further improved machines or washing methods.
As said, in the document are taken into account the reduction options regarding direct energy as well as indirect energy. See for more information about indirect and direct energy requirements (Biesiot & Moll, 1995; Vringer & Blok, 1995). For washing and drying the total energy requirement concerns the direct energy use for using appliances, the indirect energy use for the manufacturing for appliances, as well as the indirect energy use for detergents and different textile materials. The total energy requirement for textile care takes approximately 10% of the total energy requirement of a household. Although this is not such a large category compared to e.g. food, a case study about this activity category in households can give a lot of information about the interaction between direct and indirect energy requirement, as well as the interaction between energy requirement and differences in activities of households.
The analyses are done on a detailed level. On a detailed level interaction between the direct and indirect energy requirement is expected. This will influence the result on higher levels, but will not be visible when averaged figures on less detailed levels are used. Also it is tried to incorporate the users' and use situation influences - as opposed to using just technical data. Such users' data is useful and especially available on a detailed level.
First a description and quantification are given of the average primary energy requirement needed to wash and dry one kilogram cotton textile (chapter 2). This is done as a standardised unit is necessary and cotton is the most used material. In chapter 3 the annual energy requirement for washing and drying per person and per household are quantified. In this chapter the users' situation is taken into account. Next (chapter 4) the relevant, rather technical energy reduction options for washing and drying are described and the potential savings are calculated. Chapters 5 and 6 reflect on another five reduction options such as changes in textile materials and different use of appliances. The study ends with chapters 7 (Discussion) and 8 (Conclusions).