A Hisense workshop in Shandong province.

"Is it energy-efficient?" With an increasing number of consumers asking this question when they are purchasing household appliances, a green campaign is under way in China`s electronics market.

Oil prices have been hovering above $120 a barrel and there are concerns over home electricity rate hikes after the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) raised electricity fees for commercial customers on July 1.

Lin Xunkun, a customer at a Dazhong electronics store in Beijing`s Changping district, says he is keeping his energy bill as low as possible due to his concern over rising power rates.

Qingdao-headquartered Hisense, a State-owned household appliance maker, has been enthusiastic in shouldering the responsibilities of saving energy as well as protecting environment.

Four years ago Zhou Houjian, chairman of Hisense and National People`s Congress deputy, submitted a proposal urging authorities to accelerate legislation to make energy-efficient household appliances compulsory.

During the annual sessions of the National People`s Congress and the Chinese People`s Political Consultative Conference early this year, Zhou again emphasized that public awareness of energy conservation has driven the trend for such appliances and said that manufacturers should do their part by developing more.

Guided by Zhou`s crusade Hisense has pushed energy-saving technologies used in its televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and other appliances.

And as the television market goes from CRT (cathode ray tube) to flat panel another challenge has emerged over increased energy consumption.

Li Tienan, director of China Certification Center for Energy Conservation Product (CECP), says about eight million flat panel TVs have been sold in China annually and Lu Renbo, an expert on China`s color television industry says the total number will exceed 12 million this year. If 8 million flat panel TVs are on six hours a day they will eat up approximately 3.5 billion more kilowatt-hours of electricity a year than 8 million CRT TV sets operating in the same conditions.

General manager of Hisense Electric Co, Ltd (HEC), Liu Hongxin says Hisense began energy-saving technologies when they initially got involved in the development of flat panel TVs.

He says in 2004 Hisense found that a lead-free soldering manufacturing process for flat panel sets could reduce toxic lead waste.

And last July, Hisense introduced TV sets with low-energy consuming, long life, light emitting diode (LED) and backlight liquid crystal display (LCD) in China.

In LCD panels and LCD TVs, most of the power is consumed by the backlight source. Almost all desktop LCD monitors and LCD TVs utilize CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) that consume a lot of power since they have to be driven by a high voltage inverter.

When using LED backlight, the power consumption can be reduced considerably. For instance, a CCFL 40-inch LCD TV consumes 170W. But with LED backlight, it only consumes 100W.

CIO Jinee, director of License`s Research and Innovation Center for Flat Panel TV, says the light-sensitive technology adjusts the electricity consumption and signal intensity of advanced flat panel TV sets according to its light source and can save more than 30 percent in power.

Figures from United Nations researchers also say the energy spent on air conditioning in summer and heating in winter uses 36 percent of all energy consumed by the world.

In the 1990s, Hisense was the first Chinese business to import frequency conversion technology from the Japanese household appliance maker, Sanyo.

After research Hisense updated the frequency conversion technology used in its air conditioners and refrigerators to make them more energy efficient

Figures from United Nations researchers also say the energy spent on air conditioning in summer and heating in winter uses 36 percent of all energy consumed by the world.

Frequency conversion in air conditioning adjusts the power of compressor so the cooling process and power usage automatically adjusts according to the room`s temperature. If the temperature falls to a certain level, the air conditioner automatically lowers its speed. It also avoids frequent startup and shutdown, which consumes a lot of energy.

Hisense also set up two major frequency conversion air conditioner production bases in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, with a production capacity of five million units each.

So far, the company has invested 1.2 billion yuan into developing the high-end air conditioners. Zhou says that there are more than 200 million air conditioners in China. If all of them were replaced by frequency conversion models, it would save an estimated 130 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, a figure that exceeds annual capacity of the Three Gorges hydropower station.

However, energy-efficient air conditioners are usually priced double or even higher than traditional ones.

Shi Yongchang, vice-president of Hisense Kelon, a subsidiary of Hisense, says the development of technologies for improving efficient air conditioners is a time-consuming and systematic project which needs extensive research, experience and a lot of money.

Despite the costs, Zhou says energy efficient air conditioners have become compulsory for many export markets which have stricter environmental standards than China`s become compulsory market entrance requirements in China, and it will become stricter.

The national standard classifies air conditioners into five grades from 1 to 5 according to the level of their energy consumption. A smaller number indicates higher efficiency.

Many Hisense air conditioners are rated at 3 or less and the China National Institute of Standardization is expected to raise the market entrance standard from grade 5 to grade 2 by 2009.

"It might be an opportunity for Hisense to prevail against its rivals because we`ve always focused on the development of energy-saving technologies," Zhou says.

Air conditioners produced by Hisense and its subsidiary Hisense Kelon take up more than 10 percent of the total air conditioning market in China, while they have over 50 percent of the market share for frequency conversion models.

There are some "green barriers" for Chinese appliance manufacturers trying to enter international market. Some countries such as Australia have very strict environmental requirements, says Zhou.

"Thanks to our efforts on energy-saving technologies, our overseas sales revenue has increased 100 per cent since 2001," Zhou adds.

Hisense has three production bases in South Africa, Hungary and France along with four research and innovation centers in the United States, Europe and South Africa, and joint factories in Algeria and Egypt. They sell products in over one hundred countries and regions.

By adhering to environmental friendly notions, Hisense expects 40 percent of the company`s total sale revenue will be from exports by 2010, says Zhou.