Looking at Energy Efficiency - Focus on United States

Abstract

Executive Summary

Energy efficiency is generally the largest, least expensive, most benign, most quickly deployable, least visible, least understood, and most neglected way to provide energy services. The 39% drop in U.S. energy intensity (primary energy consumption per dollar of real gross domestic product) from 1975 to 2000 represented, by 2000, an effective energy "source" 1.7 times as big as U.S. oil consumption, three times net oil imports, five times domestic oil output, six times net oil imports from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, and 13 times net imports from Persian Gulf countries. It has lately increased by three percent per year, outpacing the growth of any source of supply (except minor renewables). Yet energy efficiency has gained little attention or respect for its achievements, let alone its far larger untapped potential.

The potential of energy efficiency is increasing faster through innovative designs, technologies, policies, and marketing methods than it is being used up through gradual implementation. The uncaptured "efficiency resource" is becoming bigger and cheaper even faster than oil reserves have lately done through stunning advances in exploration and production. The expansion of the "efficiency resource" is also accelerating as designers realize that whole-system design integration can often make very large (one or two order-of-magnitude) energy savings cost less than small or no savings, and as energy-saving technologies evolve discontinuously rather than incrementally. Similarly rapid evolution and enormous potential apply to ways to market and deliver energy-saving technologies and designs; research and development can accelerate both.

Aruvian Research' s report Looking at Energy Efficiency - Focus on United States brings you the entire concept of energy efficiency, analyzing the basics, understanding the concept of energy efficiency, the benefits of energy efficiency, effect on electric utilities, market failures, business opportunities, cost effectiveness of energy efficiency programs, methods on how one can accelerate energy efficiency, and much more. Looking at Energy Efficiency - Focus on United States takes a look at this vastly unexplored field in the energy industry in this comprehensive and intelligent analysis.