ANKARA
Energy efficiency savings in the European Union have exceeded the bloc's total consumption from all its energy sources, according to a recent report.
The IEA Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014 said savings from energy efficiency improvements in 2011 among 11 International Energy Agency member countries equaled 1,337 million tones of oil-equivalent energy (Mtoe) - more than the total final consumption of the EU and Asia, excluding China.
The report said: "Energy efficiency savings in 11 IEA member countries were effectively displacing a continent’s energy demand."
The savings are equivalent to 80 percent of China's total final consumption and 87 percent of the USA's for 2011.
The financial side of the savings equals $743 billion at a given average global price for energy.
- Falling demand
Efficiency investments made the largest contribution to the residential sector, where energy demand fell by 5 percent compared to 2001 levels among the countries analyzed.
The report estimated that investment in energy efficiency markets worldwide in 2012 was between $310 billion and $360 billion.
The amount was larger than supply-side investment in renewable electricity or in coal, oil and gas electricity generation, and about half the size of upstream oil and gas investment.
The report said that new vehicle fuel economy standards will drive the market for more energy-efficient vehicles in the next five years.
An annually $80 billion investment up to 2020 will save up to $190 billion in fuel costs, it added.
The report also said that, if there had been no efficiency gains since 2001, total final energy consumption in 2011 would have been 218 Mtoe higher.
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