Energy Efficiency Report Ed 1 2012
This new NRG Expert report looks at the policies and incentives for energy efficiency for the power generation, the industrial sector, transportation and the residential or commercial sectors for countries worldwide. The report enables the reader to identify the major consumers of energy. They include in descending order, energy for power generation, the industrial sector, transportation and the residential or commercial sector. With electric generation capacity expected to be constrained in many countries worldwide in the foreseeable future, efforts have been focused on increasing electricity supply and reducing demand. One of the lowest hanging fruits in reducing electricity demand, i.e. the lowest cost, highest benefit ratio, is energy efficiency. Often energy efficient measures and devices will be more cost-effective than the construction of new generation capacity in order to meet demand for electricity. The same principle applies to fuels for energy generation. Where projected rising prices, especially for oil, make energy efficient cars with a low fuel consumption compared to conventional vehicles considerably more attractive for consumers. Uptake of the implementation of some energy efficiency devices has been rather slow where significant barriers exist, such as high upfront costs etc. In many countries, the uptake of energy efficiency is incentivised. For example, in Canada homeowners are offered grants for energy efficiency improvements under the ecoENERGY Retrofit scheme.