A new UNECE publication “Energy efficiency and decarbonization measures in end-use sectors” calls for rethinking how countries design their energy systems: from “Which energy efficiency technologies should be deployed?” to “How to design the system, so that proven measures scale, persist, and stay affordable?” Built on the body of work of the Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency, it aligns technology, institutions, financing, and people so that the cleanest, cheapest, quickest, and arguably most widely available energy resource – avoided energy use – becomes the governing principle in building a resilient, competitive, and just energy future.
“Our diverse region encompasses different energy structures and policy priorities yet a shared principle across all contexts is the recognition that energy efficiency is among the most cost-effective public policy drivers of sustainable development,” said Tatiana Molcean, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The publication positions energy efficiency as the first-order energy resource, “the organizing principle of a resilient energy system” (as opposed to a peripheral measure delivering isolated gains) that reduces total costs, helps economies avoid price shocks, and improves resilience when embedded across planning, regulation, finance, digitalization, and circularity.
The publication sets out practical, evidence-based measures for industry, buildings, and transport:
- In industrial process integration, advanced controls, and digital twins can reduce energy use by 20-30 per cent, while waste heat recovery can further reduce it by another 10-15 per cent.
- Industrial symbiosis, cascading heat between facilities, and reuse of by-products further lowers material use and related costs.
- Buildings, seen as energy system assets, can deliver verifiable demand-side flexibility. Deep retrofits paired with low-temperature district heating reduce peak loads by up to 30 per cent thus helping avoid costly grid reinforcements.
- Transport systems, when planned efficiently, can reduce vehicle-kilometres travelled by as much as 20-30 per cent, while managed charging and battery-buffered fast charging can lower grid stress and reduce infrastructure expansion needs.
The publication underscores digitalization as essential to systemic efficiency. Advanced metering infrastructure, digital twins, and AI allow continuous optimization, transparent measurement, reporting, and verification, and pay-for-performance regulation.
Findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data principles, open standards, and cybersecurity frameworks are highlighted as prerequisites for building trust and scaling.
The publication identifies three immediate accelerators to overcome the financing barriers towards efficiency as a transparent, financeable asset class:
- Standardization of contracts with monitoring, verification, and reporting to make efficiency actions comparable across markets.
- Aggregation of small projects into portfolios, enabling institutional investment.
- De-risking tools, including guarantees and energy savings insurance, can reduce the cost of capital.
The publication provides a concise and implementation-ready package for policymakers – across sectors and infrastructures and through governance and awareness – outlining four mutually reinforcing pillars: coordinated planning; finance and bankability; digitalization for measurement, optimization and transparency; and circularity with institutional and skills readiness for a just transition.
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 