Coming to grips with what the energy efficiency target in the EU could be

E3G, the non-profit organisation operating to accelerate the global transition to sustainable development, has published an excellent briefing paper that takes a second look at the July Communication on energy efficiency published by the European Commission. That Communication proposed a target of a 30 % improvement in energy efficiency by 2030. As the report states, the … Continue reading Coming to grips with what the energy efficiency target in the EU could be

Surveying what the British know about saving energy

Kieran Cooke, for the Climate News Network, that is part of the Guardian Environment Network, writes about a new survey on what the British know about saving energy. It is valuable reading for all of you.  And how would this compare to other countries?   Britons ill-informed on energy saving, survey finds Housing in the … Continue reading Surveying what the British know about saving energy

Giving more attention to small and medium-sized enterprises

The International Institute for Sustainable Development reports on a new World Bank publication that quantifies the opportunities for SMEs in green industries. In most countries, SMEs are the backbone of the economy and this is a welcome report that needs to be given considerable attention.   World Bank Identifies Clean-Tech Market Opportunities for SMEs The … Continue reading Giving more attention to small and medium-sized enterprises

Identifying the positive macroeconomic impacts from improving energy efficiency

The International Institute for Sustainable Development writes about a recent report by the Asian Development Bank on its modelling exercise on the impact of improving energy efficiency. This is a welcome sign and follows the recent IEA report on multiple benefits.   ADB Highlights Positive Economic Impacts of Energy Efficiency A modeling study published by … Continue reading Identifying the positive macroeconomic impacts from improving energy efficiency

Recent roundtable addressing improving energy efficiency in SMEs

Fourteen business leaders recently gathered to better understand how they can get small and medium-sized enterprises to implement energy-efficiency measures. Tim Smedley from The Guardian provides an excellent account of that encounter.   Bright ideas: how SMEs can save energy Start-ups could save thousands by introducing energy-efficiency measures, but such schemes are often overlooked. So … Continue reading Recent roundtable addressing improving energy efficiency in SMEs

Documenting the energy savings potential in India’s residential buildings

A new report entitled Residential Buildings in India: Energy Use Projections and Savings Potentials by the Global Buildings Performance Network (GBPN) and jointly developed with CEPT University from India provides the first comprehensive attempt to document energy saving potentials that could be achieved in India by 2050 in the residential sector. Four energy scenarios were … Continue reading Documenting the energy savings potential in India’s residential buildings

The need to shift to energy-efficient appliances

While the Climate Summit was held this week, focus was on the range of ways to address climate change. Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) provided the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) with a guest article on the importance of shifting to energy-efficient appliances. It is well worth reading. Following its publication, … Continue reading The need to shift to energy-efficient appliances

Turkey’s battle against large energy-consuming appliances

Turkey does not implement all the EU energy efficiency directives, but it does implement those for Ecodesign (energy-efficient appliances) and for energy labelling. This article in the Daily Sabah shows what is happening with respect to refrigerators. While Turkey follows the Ecodesign directive, it has a special consumption tax which is actually lower for the … Continue reading Turkey’s battle against large energy-consuming appliances

New call for energy efficiency to lead a new energy policy approach in Europe

Oliver Rapf, Executive Director of the Buildings Performance Institute Europe, writes recently on the BPIE website to remins us of the challenge we have in the upcoming weeks to argue for a paradigm shift in energy policy in Europe. Rapf says it is self-evident about energy efficiency and low carbon being at the heart of … Continue reading New call for energy efficiency to lead a new energy policy approach in Europe

The benefits of a clean energy economy

Recently we are getting a lot of articles on the wide range of benefits from increased energy efficiency and renewable energy. This is a good development and hopefully this will lead to even more analysis on those benefits. Silvio Marcacci writes on the CleanTechnica website about many of the benefits of a clean energy economy. … Continue reading The benefits of a clean energy economy