Energy Efficiency: What has it Delivered in the Last 40 Years?

Harry Saunders (), Joyashree Roy, Inês M.L. Azevedo (), Debalina Chakravarty (), Shyamasree Dasgubta (), Stephane de la Rue du Can (), Angela Druckman (), Roger Fouquet, Michael Grubb, Bo Qiang Lin (), Robert Lowe (), Reinhard Madlener, Daire McCoy (), Luis Mundaca (), Tadj Oreszczyn (), Steve Sorrell, David Stern, Kanako Tanaka () and Taoyuan Wei ()
Additional contact information
Harry Saunders: Carnegie Institution for Science, Global Ecology Group, Stanford, USA
Inês M.L. Azevedo: Stanford University, USA
Debalina Chakravarty: Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta
Shyamasree Dasgubta: Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India
Stephane de la Rue du Can: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Angela Druckman: University of Surrey, UK
Bo Qiang Lin: Xiamen University, China
Robert Lowe: University College London, UK
Daire McCoy: London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Luis Mundaca: International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, Sweden
Tadj Oreszczyn: University College London, UK
Kanako Tanaka: Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan

No 16/2020, FCN Working Papers from E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)

Abstract: This article presents a critical assessment of research and practices that emerged over last 40 years that may be brought under the umbrella of “energy efficiency,” spanning different aggregations and domains – from individual producing and consuming agents to economy-wide effects, the role of innovation, and the influence of policy. It highlights advances in understanding the benefits of energy efficiency innovation, improvements in economic and measurement methods and tools, and progress in bending downward the energy use per unit economic output curve, which has taken over a century. We focus on how well deliberate policy actions have influenced energy users in the uptake of energy efficiency. We also note how policies pursued thus far have put less attention on social welfare, inequity issues, and need to better account for complex dynamics associated with how micro actions affect macro outcomes, and to include a richer interdisciplinary approach.

Keywords: energy efficiency; energy intensity; efficiency policy; energy efficiency gap; public policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N70 O33 Q40 Q41 Q43 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2020-11, Revised 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-his, nep-ino, nep-reg and nep-sea
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2020_016

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