The invisible energy efficiency boom

WASHINGTON, D.C.///May 15, 2008///It’s the U.S. energy boom that no one knows about. Energy efficiency may be the farthest-reaching, least-polluting, and fastest-growing energy success story of the last 50 years. But it also is the most invisible, the least understood, and in serious danger of missing out on needed future investments. In the first attempt to quantify the overall impact of the hidden U.S. energy efficiency boom, a major new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows that U.S. energy consumption (as measured per dollar of economic output) will have been slashed by the end of 2008 to half of what it was in 1970, from 18 thousand BTUs to about 8.9 thousand BTUs.

However, the ACEEE report, The Size of the U.S. Energy Efficiency Market: Generating a More Complete Picture, concludes that “…our nation is not aware of the role that energy efficiency has played in satisfying our growing energy-service demands…the contributions of efficiency often go unrecognized. The contributions of energy efficiency often remain invisible..." The report also notes that although efficiency is a proven resource, it remains underdeveloped. "In short, the evidence suggests that efficiency can make an even larger contribution towards stabilizing energy prices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions – should we choose to fully develop it.”

The ACEEE report was prepared with major support from the Civil Society Institute (CSI). Additional support was provided by the Kendall Foundation and the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association.

Key report findings include:

• Given the right choices and investments in the many cost-effective but underutilized energy-efficient technologies, the United States can cost-effectively reduce energy consumption by an additional 25-30 percent or more over the course of the next 20-25 years;
• Annual investments in energy-efficient technologies currently support 1.6 million U.S. jobs; The $300 billion invested in energy efficiency in 2004 was three times the amount invested in traditional energy infrastructure;
• Investments in energy-efficient technologies are estimated to have generated approximately 1.7 quads of energy savings in 2004 alone – roughly the equivalent of the energy required to operate 40 mid-sized coal-fired or nuclear power plants;
• Since 1970 energy efficiency has met about three-fourths of the demand for new energy-related services while conventional energy supply has covered only one-fourth of this demand; and
• Total investments in more energy-efficient technologies could increase the annual energy efficiency market by nearly $400 billion by 2030, resulting in an annual efficiency market of more than $700 billion – and total additional investments over the period 2008-2030 of nearly $7 trillion.

ACEEE Director of Economic Analysis John A. "Skip" Laitner, co-author of the new report, said: “The greatest American success story in dealing with energy in recent decades is also the least understood and the most invisible. This report shows that energy efficiency is among the most cost-effective solutions available to consumers, businesses, policymakers, and investors. Energy efficiency has made great strides, but we need to look at picking up the pace. The energy-related challenges of the 21st century require a dramatic shift in direction – from an emphasis on energy supply to an emphasis on energy efficiency.”

Lloyd Jeff Dumas, professor of political economy, economics and public policy at The University of Texas at Dallas, and chair, Civil Society Institute Working Group on the Economy and Global Warming, said: “In effect, energy efficiency is buying the time that America needs to develop new clean energy sources that will reduce the greenhouse gases linked to global warming. This study sends a powerful message that members of the public, elected officials, and corporations need to squeeze out even more of the potential of energy efficiency as part of a comprehensive energy strategy that looks to our future, rather than the past.”