Government failure to boost energy efficiency ‘inexplicable’, says IEA
The failure by governments and businesses to accelerate energy efficiency efforts is “inexplicable”, according to the head of the International Energy Agency.
Fatih Birol said saving more energy was “utterly essential” in cutting household’s rocketing bills, ending reliance on fossil fuel regimes such as Russia, and rapidly lowering the CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis.
New analysis by the IEA showed that doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements seen in the last decade would, by 2030, slash global energy use by the same amount used in China every year, saving households $650bn. It would also cut oil and gas use by far more than Russia exports to the EU. Ending these exports is a key EU goal after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: energy efficiency
The energy price spikes of the 1970s drove consumers, businesses and government to calculate opportunities for energy efficiency — investments, practices, and regulations to avoid some of the energy costs associated with particular products or services. Those calculations ran counter to a lot of engrained practices, and the friction between business and government is a feature of energy and environment policy discussions. Now, energy efficiency decisions — whether involving building practices, appliance efficiency, or vehicle mileage and emissions standards — are a complex mix of government regulation and market behavior.