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Europe Could Save $100 Billion on Power Efficiency, Report Says
2010-09-14 23:00:01.2 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- European Union energy users could
save as much as 78 billion euros ($100 billion) a year by 2020
under tougher efficiency targets, climate groups said.
The 27-nation EU should "triple the impact of its energy
efficiency policies" and consider making the 20 percent energy-
conservation goal binding rather than voluntary, according to a
report commissioned by the European Climate Foundation and the
Regulatory Assistance Project.
There is "general understanding and acknowledgement" that
the EU isn't currently on track to meet the efficiency
target, energy and climate change consultants Ecofys and the
Fraunhofer ISI wrote in the report. Reaching the goal through
new policy measures and incentives can be done "cost
effectively," they said.
In addition to increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent
by the end of this decade, the EU also aims to reduce greenhouse
gases and boost the share of renewables in its energy
consumption by the same percentages as part of its climate-
protection strategy. While the emissions reduction and renewable
energy targets are written into law, EU member states have no
binding efficiency targets.
Achieving the efficiency target requires around 394 million
tons of oil-equivalent energy savings by 2020, according to the
study published today in Brussels.
While the recession will have reduced EU primary energy
consumption by about 70 million tons of oil equivalent and new
policies introduced after 2006 may cut it by 115 million tons,
the EU will still be left with a savings gap of 208 million tons
by 2020, Ecofys and Fraunhofer said.
Energy saving measures including building insulation, top-
performing lightning in homes and electric motors in industrial
installations, together with the EU renewable initiatives,
should be enough to close the gap and reach the efficiency
target, the report said.
"The scale of the challenge is not to be underestimated,"
the report said. "Energy saving measures are diverse and spread
across all sectors, and will have to be implemented quickly
enough to deliver their savings potential on time."
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Mike Anderson.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-2-237-4331 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
