The term energy input labeling involves producers of goods and services determining the amount of energy used to produce their product and then including that information on their product packaging.[1] Energy input labeling is sometimes known by the acronym EIL. Energy input labeling provides the advantage of knowing how much energy was used to produce a product, but it does not indicate how much energy a product uses to operate, such as the European Union energy label or the Energy rating label used in Australia and New Zealand, and is not in itself a standard for energy efficiency such as Energy Saving Trust Recommended or Energy Star.
Energy input labeling originated as a project by several energy and economics activists to explore energy accounting.[2]
Energy input labeling is intended to be easy for producers to implement,[1][3] At minimum, they can report and label the energy used by their firm to produce products, which is called "Energy Inputs Added", sometimes merely "Energy Added." If a firm is able to also account for all of the energy imputed by its suppliers, then a firm can report and label "Total Energy Inputs" or "Total Energy", but this is rare. Energy Input Labeling is being used and further developed by the European Organization for Sustainability.[1][4]
In Japan, the Top Runner Program is run, in which new appliances are regularly tested on efficiency, and the most efficient ones are made the standard.