Preventing Carbon Emissions, Saving Billions of Dollars: Energy Efficiency’s Big Impacts

What saved hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs AND prevented emissions from being 60% higher? Energy efficiency, of course!

The new Energy Efficiency Impact Report is a first-of-its-kind analysis of the sweeping impacts of EE investments, policies, and innovation across sectors (e.g., residential and commercial buildings, industry, transportation). I was pleased to contribute to this report published by the Alliance to Save Energy, ACEEE, and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.

From energy savings, job growth, and reduced carbon emissions to public health and worker productivity savings, energy efficiency has succeeded. Six policies were most impactful:

1.   fuel economy standards

2.   appliance and equipment energy efficiency standards

3.   ENERGY STAR

4.   utility sector efficiency programs

5.   federal research and development

6.   building energy codes

Together these saved about 25 quadrillion BTUs of energy in 2017, equal to 23% of total U.S. energy use.

Despite undeniably major success, the biggest opportunities are ahead. Growth in smarter technologies and more responsive energy management could help deliver fully half of emissions reductions needed to meet goals.

Though this is encouraging, we’re not on track to achieve these reductions. The United States even risks sliding backward, the report says. While federal spending on EE increased slightly from 2016 to 2018, estimated total domestic investment levels fell by 18%, the report warns. Energy intensity in the U.S. – the ratio of energy use to economic output – worsened slightly in 2018.

I agree with the organizations who published the report when they say: “We have an urgent need to scale-up our commitment and deployment of energy efficiency... Decades of experience have taught us that energy efficiency doesn’t always happen on its own: it requires proactive support among diverse stakeholders to see its benefits and work together to realize them.”

Please join me in redoubling our efforts.