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Tag:

IEA

Energy Efficiency Factoids that Will Win Friends and Influence People (Especially Investors)

Energy Efficiency Factoids that Will Win Friends and Influence People (Especially Investors)

written by Elisa Wood

Riddle: What’s as big as the amount of energy used by the European Union…and getting even bigger?

The answer is the amount of energy we’re not using. Or more specifically,  it is the energy saved in 2011 by the US and 10 other countries – Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, all member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

That’s according to the IEA’s new “The Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014,” which puts in perspective just how important energy efficiency has become.

Together, the 11 countries reduced their energy use by 1, 337 million tons of oil-equivalent (Mtoe) in 2011 — more than all of the fuel consumed by the European Union from all energy sources combined.

Or another way to look at it — these countries effectively displaced an entire continent’s energy demand, says IEA.

Here are a few other energy efficiency factoids from the report that offer market insight.

  • The world avoided using more energy than the supply of oil (1 202 Mtoe), electricity (552 Mtoe) or natural gas (509 Mtoe) in 2011
  • Houses got bigger and population grew, but these factors did not influence energy use because of more efficient appliances, light bulbs and heating. In fact, residential energy use has dropped five percent since 2001.
  • Energy efficiency investments now represent a $310 to $360 billion investment, and growing.

From this report and others, it is now clear that economic decline, alone, did not cause the energy dive following the 2008 financial meltdown.  True,  energy use did take a decided dip in 2009 and then start to rise again, but not nearly as much as it would have without the world’s big push to become more energy efficient, according to the report. Without the energy efficiency efforts begun in 2011,  the world’s energy use would have been  218 Mtoe higher in 2011.  Moreover, had we not made our appliances, cars, buildings and industry more efficienct in the 1970s,  we would be consuming 60 percent more energy today.

Perhaps most interesting is how financial markets are reacting to energy efficiency. Financial products are growing in breadth and sophistication. The energy performance service contract — which pays for efficiency improvements through energy savings achieved — is expanding beyond its origins in the US. While the US market for the contracts is about $5 billion, China’s market for the contracts has reached $12 billion, IEA said.

Meanwhile, use is growing of clean energy bonds, green bonds and climate bonds from fixed income markets. Until late 2013, the green bond market relied heavily on development banks (like World Bank). But corporate green bond issues are now growing very rapidly, the report says. IEA also noted an uptick in on-bill financing programs, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) in the US, Mexico and Europe

Public finance also continues to be signficant, the report says, with commitments of EUR 16 billion from German public investment bank KfW; EUR 2.1 billion from the European Investment Bank; EUR 453 million from France’s Caisse des Dépôts; and EUR 181 million from the United Kingdom Green Investment Bank.

The report is availabe for a fee here. A free executive summary is here.

This article is published under a cross licensing agreement with EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.com



October 15, 2014 0 comment
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Shift Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Support Green Energy, IEA Urges

written by Yale Environment 360

With demand for fossil fuels outpacing the growth of renewable energy technologies worldwide, the International Energy Agency suggests that fossil fuel subsidies worth $312 billion be realigned to develop cleaner alternatives.

Although renewable energy has seen growth of 30 to 40 percent in recent years,

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April 7, 2011 2 comments
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Thinking Globally

written by Smartcool

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the current rate of energy efficiency improvement worldwide is not nearly enough to overcome the other factors driving up energy consumption. Unless we can all agree to jump on that bandwagon, we are headed for an unsustainable energy future. Sounds bleak,

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March 7, 2011 0 comment
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What is Life After Peak Oil?

written by Walter Wang

While Western governments from the U.S. to the UK debate the validity of “peak oil”, and obfuscate the probability under a cloak of secrecy, the working world wrings its hands, wondering what will happen when the day arrives and the energy needed to fuel industry – the lifeblood of national economies – is no longer available.

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September 7, 2010 2 comments
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IEA to France: Increase Electricity Prices and Competition

written by Edouard Stenger

On Monday the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its latest country report on France. These reports are generally issued every five years.

Although France has not been immune to the global economic downturn, the climate change plan known as the Grenelle de l’Environnement is still considered by the IEA as having “many positive provisions”.

Indeed, the government is willing to cut by a factor of four the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels).

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July 29, 2010 3 comments
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Time to Come Clean on Energy Subsidies?

written by Elisa Wood

What you don’t know will hurt you. That’s the message in Michael Lewis’ new book, “The Big Short,” which traces today’s worldwide economic downturn to a single problem: the secretive nature of prices in the subprime mortgage bond markets.

What’s this got to do with energy? Our industry has its own opaque corners that can cause widespread damage. This week the International Energy Agency (IEA) is attempting to focus light on a big one: energy subsides for fossil fuels.

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June 11, 2010 1 comment
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Desertec Project – a sound alternative to Russian gas pipelines?

written by Levent Bas

Energy demand in Europe is not growing as fast as in other parts of the world but it still constitutes a significant portion of global energy demand.  Europe’s share of global primary energy demand is around 14%, although it is likely to decrease to 11-12% by 2030 according to IEA forecasts. While growth is slower than 50 years ago, energy for Europe continues to be a strategic issue.

On July 13 2009, the first international agreement on the Nabucco project was signed in Ankara to ensure gas supply for Europe from the Caspian Region to Austria through Turkey and Eastern Europe. Europeans are to almost 50% dependent on foreign resources for their primary energy demand.  Having experienced gas cuts in recent years, resulting in hard times for their industries and residents, Europe would like to become less dependent on Russia by securing its supply from different sources.

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July 17, 2009 1 comment
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