Energy efficiency can cut down global demand by 6%

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: Projections from the International Energy Agency show global energy demand growing by close to 30% by 2020, setting the stage for massive growth in the carbon dioxide emissions that are warming our planet. But dramatically ramping up energy efficiency would allow the world to not only avoid growth in energy demand but actually reduce global demand to below 2006 levels by 2020.

We can reduce the amount of energy we use by preventing the waste of heat and electricity in buildings and industrial processes and by switching to efficient lighting and appliances. We can also save an enormous amount of energy by restructuring the transportation sector. Many of the needed energy efficiency measures can be enacted relatively quickly and pay for themselves.

Buildings are responsible for a large share of global electricity consumption and raw materials use. Retrofitting existing buildings with better insulation and more-efficient appliances can cut energy use by 20-50%.

Lighting also offers great opportunities for improving efficiency. Much of the energy we use for lighting today is wasted as heat rather than used for illumination, so switching to more-efficient lighting can have a quick payback. Swapping out conventional light bulbs for energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), for example, can cut energy use by 75%, saving money on electric bills. And CFLs last up to 10 times as long. If everyone in the world made the switch and turned to high-efficiency home, office, industrial, and street lighting, total world electricity use would fall by 12%, equivalent to the output of 705 coal-fired power plants.

Similar efficiency gains can be realised with household appliances. Take refrigerators, for instance. The average refrigerator in Europe uses about half the electricity of one in the US. Beyond that, the most efficient refrigerators on the market use one fourth as much electricity as the European average.

Even the electricity drawn by appliances in “standby” mode, when they are not actively turned on, currently adds up to as much as 10% of total residential electricity consumption. Industry standards, like South Korea’s 1-watt standby limit for many appliances that will go into effect by 2010, push manufacturers toward energy-efficient design. Consumers can eliminate unnecessary electricity drain by unplugging electronics or by using improved “smart” power strips to stop electricity flow to appliances that are not in use.