McKinsey & Company released a new research report showing that the United States could save about $600 billion in energy costs by 2020 by increasing annual energy efficiency spending roughly five-fold.
According to the report, the U.S. could reduce annual non-transportation energy consumption by roughly 23% and eliminate more than $1.2 trillion in wasted energy–an amount that is well beyond the $520 billion projected cost.
In addition, the U.S. would reduce greenhouse gas emissions annually by 1.1 gigatons–the equivalent of taking the entire U.S. fleet of passenger vehicles and light trucks off the roads.
These energy savings will be possible, however, only if the U.S. overcomes significant barriers. To do so, the reoprt says an integrated set of solutions is needed, including information and education, incentives and financing, codes and standards, and the deployment resources well beyond current levels.
The report, ‘Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy,’ outlines five key strategies:
- Recognize energy efficiency as an important energy resource that can help meet future energy needs while the nation concurrently develops new no- and low-carbon energy sources
- Formulate and launch at both national and regional levels an integrated portfolio of proven, piloted, and emerging approaches to unlock the full potential of energy efficiency
- Identify methods to provide the significant upfront funding required by any plan to capture energy efficiency
- Forge greater alignment between utilities, regulators, government agencies, manufacturers, and energy consumers
- Foster innovation in the development and deployment of next-generation energy efficiency technologies to ensure ongoing productivity gains.
The full report is available at the link below.
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