Energy efficiency now an action agenda – IEA

Governments have committed to the target of doubling energy efficiency progress globally by the end of this decade.

“This comes from the IEA’s net zero emissions roadmap as a key milestone for early action, not only because of the direct emissions abatement but also because of energy efficiency as an enabler of other activities such as reducing energy demand growth,” said Brian Motherway, Head of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions at the IEA, opening a webinar on the topic.

Commenting on the recognition of energy efficiency in discussions at COP28, he said the IEA was delighted with this outcome.

“We know the policies that are required and the technologies that are essential and now it’s an action agenda.”

Doubling global progress

Expanding on the goal of doubling energy efficiency, Jack Miller, an energy policy analyst at the IEA, explained that the measurement of energy efficiency is via the metric of global primary energy intensity, i.e. the ratio of energy use to global GDP.

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With the general downward trend, changes are defined as the year on year percentage decrease, which in 2022 was 2%, i.e. that each unit of energy used produced 2% more GDP than in 2021.

“This sets the baseline of the doubling goal and so by the end of the decade we need to reach just over 4% per year,” he stated.

With that energy efficiency would deliver almost half of the emissions savings needed by 2030, up to one-third in savings on energy bills in many countries and 4.5 million more jobs for people to design, manufacture and install the needed technologies.

And he adds that while it is a necessary goal, it also is feasible, the IEA believes, based on tracking of countries’ progress over the past 10 years, with most having reached the 4% threshold at least once and half at least three times – and 40 countries achieving it in 2022 or 2023.

“The challenge is now to achieve that consistently for the rest of this decade … so it’s clear that every government must take strong and immediate action to accelerate energy efficiency to reach the doubling goal.”

Miller stated that there are three key actions, as set out in the IEA’s NZE scenario, that will contribute to the doubling goal, and in roughly equal proportions.

These are switching to more efficient fuels, including electrification and clean cooking, improving the technical efficiency of products and buildings and avoiding demand through behaviour change.

“The technologies [lighting, HVAC, vehicles, etc.] exist and the policy foundations are in place so it is about going further and becoming more ambitious.”

Policy support

For its part the IEA has produced an energy efficiency ‘policy toolkit’ with a set of strategic principles and policy packages to support governments.

The organisation also can provide support for ‘cross cutting’ issues such as demand response, flexibility and behavioural insight, which are integral to the complementary target increase of a tripling of the global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Miller also noted that the next major discussion around energy efficiency at governmental level can be expected at the IEA’s next global conference on the topic in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2024.