It’s still a bit “the bad ratio” of energy policy: “Efficiency” in transport, in industry, in housing … must make progress, the International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasized on Wednesday at a meeting of decision-makers from 80 countries Near Paris.
• Also read: 675 million people worldwide live without electricity
• Also read: Japanese project: satellites in orbit for harvesting solar energy
The global energy crisis has brought the issue of energy saving back to the fore in the past year, which is reflected in the unprecedented amount of measures and investments.
But “now we need to step up a gear and double progress by 2030,” pleaded Fatih Birol, the director of the AIE, during this three-day meeting at the Palais des Congrès in Versailles.
Efficiency in energy use (using less energy for the same service provided) is a climate issue, but also for universal access to electricity, the agency, an offshoot of the OECD, emphasizes.
According to the United Nations, around 625 million people remain without electricity, while two billion more are expected to join the world’s population within 30 years.
According to an IEA report published on Wednesday, global investment in energy efficiency is expected to reach a record $624 billion this year: building renovations, public transportation, electric vehicle infrastructure… that’s 20% more than in 2021.
For example, a quarter of the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act is dedicated to him. Japan’s Green Transformation Plan focuses on building efficiency, India has passed an “Energy Conservation” project, Chile an Efficiency Law…
On the equipment side, sales of heat pumps grew by 10% in 2022 (+40% in Europe), electric vehicles accounted for 14% of total sales (18% expected in 2023) and home energy management technologies are growing, albeit less significantly.
The standards are also progressing and apply in more than 100 countries, the IEA determined and names South Africa, where the new lamps have to be equipped with LEDs.
As a result, overall energy efficiency increased by 2.2% last year, four times faster than in the previous two years. However, this is not enough.
“tool box”
This progress should be doubled to 4% per year to reduce global energy demand and the sector’s carbon emissions by a third by 2030, in line with the scenario of carbon neutrality by 2050, which protects the world from the worst impacts of the to protect against global warming.
To achieve this, investments must be tripled to over $1,800 billion per year by 2030.
But “when we talk about clean energy, states still often think of renewable energy, solar energy, hydrogen… This is important, but we should also think more about how we use energy,” emphasizes Brian Motherway, head of efficiency at the IEA .
“It’s the poor relationship of politics. Still, it’s the cheapest and fastest source of energy,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, President of Schneider Electric, which is co-organizing the meeting.
At the current pace, thermal rehabilitation of buildings in Europe will take 300 years, he adds.
The agency has put together a “toolbox” for managers with examples of effective measures and “sectoral packages” (cooking, heating, air conditioning, financing, etc.).
At Versailles, Ugandan Energy Minister Okaasai Opolot said efficiency will primarily be a source of “economic transformation” for his country.
For China, it is “the basis of its economic and social development.”
“Over the past decade, China’s energy intensity has fallen by 26.4 percent, and the 3 percent increase in our annual energy consumption has supported economic growth of 6.2 percent,” said Zhao Chenxin, vice-president of the Development Commission, who lists the measures: Expanding renewable energy , improved management of energy production (especially coal, which is still under development), regulations for buildings and, more generally, an energy saving policy dating back to the 1980s.
In the EU, the 27 are preparing their national plans to meet the Union’s more ambitious ambitions, said Commissioner Kadri Simson for her part. “They have hundreds of billions of euros” available from the economic stimulus package.
A sum that may not be enough. Indeed, the issue of financing has occupied part of the bourses, while the IEA is alarmed by the rise in interest rates.