Nov 17, 2021 - Energy & Climate

Energy efficiency gains are too slow for a sustainable climate path

Ben Geman

mage via the International Energy Agency's Energy Efficiency 2021 report

A new International Energy Agency report shows rising investment in energy efficiency and gains in the efficiency of the global economy, but both lag levels needed for a sustainable climate path.

Why it matters: Boosting efficiency is vital to meeting climate goals.

By the numbers: Global energy intensity — that is, energy used per unit of economic output — improved by 1.9% this year.

That's above the 0.5% improvement in 2020, but well under the 4% annual level this decade in IEA's scenario for net-zero emissions by 2050.
Global investment rose somewhat, but in IEA's climate-friendly scenario, it would need to triple by 2030.

Go deeper: Bill Gates' TerraPower to build $4B nuclear power plant in Wyoming

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Energy efficiency gains are too slow for a sustainable climate path

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