Energy efficiency measures can move the U.S. halfway toward a goal of slashing carbon emissions by 80% to 100% in the next three decades, according to a Sept. 18 report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, which was released in advance of Climate Week NYC.
The report, "Halfway There: Energy Efficiency Can Cut Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Half by 2050," builds its arguments on research by the International Energy Agency and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"The largest savings come from efficient and electric vehicles, industrial efficiency and decarbonization, transportation system efficiency, upgrades to existing buildings and homes, zero energy new buildings and homes, and appliance and equipment efficiency," wrote the report's authors, who estimate that government policies and programs encouraging these efforts would result in energy savings of $700 billion annually by 2050.
Transportation, including the adoption of electric vehicles, could account for 46% of energy efficiency projects' contribution to reduced carbon emissions, according to the report, which notes that strategies to reduce emissions in transport would also require an improved freight system and more efficient airplanes.
A combination of "continued fuel economy gains under new standards" and a move to electric cars and trucks, with 80% of light-duty vehicles and 45% of heavy-duty vehicles becoming electric, could cut vehicle carbon dioxide emissions by about 50% by 2020.
The second-largest efficiency-driven cut in carbon emissions would be buildings, which would deliver one-third of the reduction in carbon emissions from energy efficiency, according to the report. New homes and commercial buildings would be able to cut their emissions by 70% with more efficient design and utilization of electricity from cleaner sources, while existing homes could be upgraded.
Another major area of carbon emissions reductions could come from cutting industrial energy use through new technologies like smart manufacturing, as well as changes to established practices, like strategic energy management and industrial processes.
"Energy efficiency is an urgently needed climate solution," the council's executive director, Steven Nadel, who co-wrote the report with senior policy adviser Lowell Ungar, said in a news release.
Energy efficiency is not merely a way to secure the future, according to Kathleen Gaffney, senior program manager in the energy efficiency division of the International Energy Agency and co-author of that organization's "Energy Efficiency 2018" report.
"It's already made an immense difference," Gaffney said. "Without efficiency measures implemented since 2000, global emissions in 2017 would have been 12% higher."
Energy efficiency has grown to become the fastest-growing jobs sector in the energy industry, accounting for 76,000 of the industry's 151,700 new jobs in 2018, according to a Sept. 15 report published by pro-sustainability advocacy groups E2 and E4TheFuture, which found that 1 in 4 energy jobs is held by someone working in energy efficiency.
