Overview of Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency has proved to be a cost-effective strategy
for building economies without necessarily increasing energy consumption. For
example, the state of California began implementing energy-efficiency measures
in the mid-1970s, including building code and appliance standards with strict
efficiency requirements. During the following years, California's energy
consumption has remained approximately flat on a per capita basis while national
US consumption doubled. As part of its strategy, California implemented a
"loading order" for new energy resources that puts energy efficiency
first, renewable electricity supplies second, and new fossil-fired power plants
last. States such as Connecticut and New York have created quasi-public Green
Banks to help residential and commercial building-owners finance energy
efficiency upgrades that reduce emissions and cut consumers' energy costs.
Lovin's Rocky Mountain Institute points out that in
industrial settings, "there are abundant opportunities to save 70% to 90%
of the energy and cost for lighting, fan, and pump systems; 50% for electric
motors; and 60% in areas such as heating, cooling, office equipment, and
appliances." In general, up to 75% of the electricity used in the US today
could be saved with efficiency measures that cost less than the electricity
itself. The same holds true for this is home and there is 78% of electricity
uses D in your home-owners, leaky ducts have remained an invisible energy
culprit for years. In fact, researchers at the US Department of Energy and
their consortium, Residential Energy Efficient Distribution Systems (REEDS)
have found that duct efficiency may be as low as 50–70%. The US Department of
Energy has stated that there is potential for energy saving in the magnitude of
90 Billion kWh by increasing home energy efficiency.
Other studies have emphasized this. A report published in
2006 by the McKinsey Global Institute, asserted that "there are sufficient
economically viable opportunities for energy-productivity improvements that
could keep global energy-demand growth at less than 1 percent per
annum"—less than half of the 2.2 percent average growth anticipated
through 2020 in a business-as-usual scenario. Energy productivity, which
measures the output and quality of goods and services per unit of energy input,
can come from either reducing the amount of energy required to produce
something, or from increasing the quantity or quality of goods and services
from the same amount of energy.
The Vienna Climate Change Talks 2007 Report, under the
auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
clearly shows "that energy efficiency can achieve real emission reductions
at low cost."
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