Germany has topped in the energy efficiency ranking among world’s major economies, according to the 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
The nations that follow Germany in rank list are Italy, the European Union, China and France. New additions to the energy efficiency scorecard are India, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain.
The rankings are based on ACEEE’s time-tested energy efficiency practices in U.S and were conducted among 16 nations.
The study was modeled on four main groupings based on 31 parameters like, countries following cross-cutting aspects of energy use at the national level and buildings, industry, and transportation sectors that are responsible for energy consumption.
Countries with top score in each segment were: E.U, France, China (buildings) Germany (industry) and Italy (transportation).
Steven Nadel, Executive Director, ACEEE, said, “Germany has given top priority to energy efficiency. The United States, made slow progress and countries like Germany, Italy, China, and other nations moved ahead.”
Dr. Philipp Ackermann, minister, deputy chief of mission, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, said, “ Germany’s achievement is a proof that our efforts towards a low-carbon and energy-efficient economy has not gone wasted. We will continue to improve further. Energy efficiency is given priority in Germany’s transformation of the energy system. Every kilowatt hour of electricity spared, is accumulated on equal quantity of fossil fuels and used up for construction of power plants.”
The ACEEE report has pointed out that even though the number of countries outperforming others is a few, all economies in the world, including the U.S., have equal opportunities for improvement in energy efficiency. For the U.S., the report views the new carbon pollution policy proposed for existing plants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a major stride in the country’s effort to attain energy efficiency.
The report reveals that even though U.S has made attempts to achieve greater energy efficiency, the results were disappointing. The U.S. score of 42 is 23 points down the top spot. This is also an indication that the countries that topped on the list will benefit from economic advantage of using less energy to produce and transport the same output.
In the analysis, ACEEE indicates certain recommendations for the U.S. to tap opportunities including passing an energy savings target, stressing on building energy codes, providing adequate training in industrial sectors and giving priority to transportation spending.
Besides, countries that use efficient-energy use fewer resources and achieve the same goal by reducing costs, keeping in competition with other countries.
The International Energy Efficiency Scorecard also include new metrics with improved data sources and more input from experts. The new metrics include water and agricultural efficiency policy, building retrofit policies and heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards.
editor@greentechlead.com