Some climate strategies are sexy, and energy efficiency is certainly not one of them. Despite this, I am thoroughly convinced that a concentrated push for global energy efficiency is the most productive direction for the climate movement. The opportunities are truly massive: energy efficiency measures could halve US projected energy consumption in 2030. Globally, energy efficiency improvements could profitably reduce 2020 energy consumption by 1/4. And because increased energy efficiency is primarily blocked by political, not technical, barriers, activists could achieve huge results if they unified around this goal.

For now I just want to sketch out some of the potential of energy efficiency, and suggest policy directions to be explored. Further analysis should explore how the low cost of energy efficiency measures could be used to counter republican calls for nuclear and drill,drill,drilling.

Forget what the fossil-fuel industry has told you, energy saved through efficiency measures is cheaper than energy generated.

Resources For the Future has found that energy efficiency programs administered by utilities and the federal government in the year 2000 cost between 3.4 and 3.8 cents/Kwh saved. The average retail rate during this time was 7.4 cents/KWh.
Recycled Energy Development (RED) worked with a carbon steel manufacturer in Indiana to recycle the heat exhaust from their coke ovens. The manufacturer now saves $40 million/year in energy costs, and—as of a few years ago at least–prevented more C02 emissions than all grid-connected solar PV worldwide.
These figures are not aberrations.

Energy efficiency improvements tend to be cheaper than energy generation because they have no associated costs for transmission, distribution, and line-loss.

Forget what those trying to sell energy—both dirty and clean—have told you, the potential for energy efficiency is huge.

If the US took advantage of all industrial waste heat and combined heat and power opportunities, it could profitably supply 200GW of US base load power and reduce domestic GHG emissions by 40% (See “Beyond Coal”)
The US Department of Energy has already demonstrated homes that produce more energy than they use, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is currently deploying large residential developments that use 40% less energy than industry standards. Because buildings represent about 40% of US energy demand, significantly increasing their efficiency could massively reduce our energy use.
There are even larger opportunities for energy efficiency improvement in the developing world. China builds about 2 coal-fired power plants a week, however practices exist that could render many of these plants unnecessary. The Beijing Thermal Energy Company helps industrial firms reduce their energy consumption by as much as 60%, and has prevented the combustion of 1.1 million tons of coal.

The avenues for action are contested and difficult, but clear.

1. Know the facts! In the developed world, increasing energy efficiency is cheaper than building power plants and is a substitute for new energy generation. In the developing world, many more coal plants are going to be built, but increased efficiency can reduce the number of plants it takes to provide for robust economic growth. The International Energy Agency has a great paper on the potential of energy efficiency, which rebuts many common criticisms of it.

2. Fight for better regulation of public utilities! Utility incentives need to be in the interest of energy efficiency, not energy sales. Some US states have “decoupled” electricity sales from profit so that utilities don’t have an incentive to sell more power. The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) has even created incentives for the utilities to increase the energy efficiency of their customers’ use. However, these “carrot” efforts need to be expanded and supplemented with a stick. State PUCs should punish those utilities that don’t work to reduce the energy consumption of their customers. The CPUC did this in the 80s when it was enforcing regulations that came out of the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act, and it needs to bring this practice back.

3. Advocate for aggressive US dissemination of energy efficiency best practices around the globe! As a developed economy, the US has already gone through the stage of dirty development that China is going through now. There is no reason to make China and India re-learn all the lessons that we have about energy efficiency and clean technologies. This isn’t just an issue of being a good neighbor: if China doesn’t build the most efficient coal plants it can, everyone will lose from climate change.

This is a fight for the streets and the legislative halls that will require massive mobilization and coherent argument. We are allied with the facts, as well as the interests of consumers and future generations. So contact your friends, your representatives, and drop me a line too. Let’s start the energy efficiency revolution!