New IEA report on the energy efficiency market

The International Energy Agency has recently published its 2014 edition of its Energy Efficiency Market Report. This year’s report includes an in-depth look at energy efficiency developments in the transport sector and in finance. Significant demand for mobility is emerging in OECD non member economies, bringing with them the challenges of pollution and congestion already faced in OECD countries. Fuel-economy standards and other policies are expected to help shape the market for more energy-efficient vehicles in the years to come. In financial markets, energy efficiency is becoming an important segment in its own right, aided by a growing range of financial products. We document the growing scale and diversity of energy efficiency products and actors.

This report also reviews national energy efficiency market developments in various jurisdictions around the world, including Canada, China, the European Union, India and Italy. These case studies provide snapshots of specific energy efficiency sub-markets, and insights into how these markets may evolve in the coming years.

There is some valuable information from the executive summary:

“The Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014 estimates that investment in energy efficiency markets worldwide in 2012 was between USD 310 billion and USD 360 billion. Investment in energy efficiency was larger than supply-side investment in renewable electricity or in coal, oil and gas electricity generation, and around half the size of upstream oil and gas investment. Investment in energy efficiency is distributed unevenly across countries and energy-consuming sectors (buildings, domestic appliances, transport and industry).

“EEMR 2014 highlights:

• In 2011, energy savings from continued improvement in the energy efficiency of 11 IEA member countries equalled 1 337 million tonnes of oil-equivalent (Mtoe). This level exceeded the total final consumption (TFC) from any single fuel source in these countries, and was larger than the total 2011 TFC for the European Union from all energy sources combined. Energy efficiency savings in 11 IEA member countries were effectively displacing a continent’s energy demand.

• Energy efficiency finance is expanding and innovating, with new funding approaches and business models; there is a notable expansion in funding for development aid projects, as well as in the use of funding vehicles such as energy service companies (ESCOs) and on-bill financing mechanisms.

• Vehicle fuel economy standards now cover 70% of the global passenger light-duty vehicle (LDV) market and will drive the market for more energy-efficient vehicles in the next five years. New standards are estimated to lead to energy efficiency investments of USD 80 billion annually out to 2020 and will save between USD 40 billion and USD 190 billion in fuel costs.

• The market potential for energy efficiency is growing significantly in OECD non-member economies. This is pronounced in the transport sector, where passenger travel is estimated to increase by 90% by 2020 from 2011 levels.”

Information on the publication is available from the IEA website.