Energy efficiency could save $500 billion dollars a year, says new report
A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveals that energy efficiency alone could allow the world to extract twice as much economic value from the energy it uses compared to today.
Doing so would reduce energy bills for consumers by more than $500 billion dollars per year, lower energy imports and cut air pollution in cities.
Energy Efficiency 2018 sets out a vision for 2040 with 60% more building space and 20% more people, and double global GDP, while using only marginally more energy than today and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 12%.
Government policy action has ‘weakened’
The report stresses the need for ‘an immediate step up in policy action’, warning that global policy efforts have ‘weakened’ recently: “The improvements in energy efficiency that were seen in recent years are now slowing down as fewer new standards and policies were introduced in the past two years.”
Energy efficiency is ‘the first fuel’
Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director said, “Our study shows that the right efficiency policies could alone enable the world to achieve more than 40% of the emissions cuts needed to reach its climate goals without requiring new technology. Thanks to the critical importance of energy efficiency in building a secure and sustainable future, the IEA considers it the ‘first fuel’ and facilitates the exchange of best practices among advanced and emerging economies.”