The layer cake of energy efficiency

Monday 25 November 2013

I have written before about the multiple benefits of energy efficiency beyond purely cost saving. These can include:

Reduced exposure to energy price volatility
Reduced emissions of carbon dioxide
Reduced emissions of pollutants resulting from combustion of fossil fuels such as mercury, other metals, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides
Reduced need to invest in energy supply infrastructure e.g. electrical grid connections at the host level
Reduced need to invest in energy supply infrastructure in the wider electricity generation, transmission and distribution system
Reduced
Improved quality of production in industrial processes
Higher productivity, health and well-being of employees
Improved comfort
Improved health and reduced expenditure on health
Increased property values
Reduced local pollution
Job creation

Now RAP – the Regulatory Assistance Project in the US, has coined a great phrase to cover this point about multiple benefits – “the layer cake of energy efficiency”. The article can be found here: http://goo.gl/bV1bUv

We need to make sure decision makers in companies, the public sector and government appreciate and value all the layers of the energy efficiency cake. Government and regulators need to put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the value of the whole cake is counted in any assessment of demand side versus supply side decisions. At the risk of taking baking analogies too far – we are currently only eating the icing but we need an energy efficiency version of the great British Bake Off in which we enjoy every layer of the cake!

Tags: Infrastructure, Pollution, RAP

Comments

Comments are closed.

Dr Steven Fawkes

Welcome to my blog on energy efficiency and energy efficiency financing. The first question people ask is why my blog is called 'only eleven percent' - the answer is here. I look forward to engaging with you!

Get in touch