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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit Buildings
Introduction Buildings account for about 30% of final energy consumption globally and more than half of electricity consumption. Doubling the global annual energy intensity improvement by 2030 would require buildings to become more efficient rapidly. An integrated policy approach combining regulation, information and incentives is the most effective way to achieve this goal. Regulatory standards such as building energy codes are among the most effective policies to not only boost energy performance and reduce emissions, but also to improve occupants' health, comfort and productivity – while enhancing climate resilience and mitigating energy price fluctuations. Buildings built after a code is introduced can…
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Melanie Slade
Senior Programme Manager, Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Programme. Melanie Slade has spent thirty years in energy efficiency policy development and implementation in many parts of the world. She started out working in the UK Government on industrial and appliance energy efficiency and has worked with many other governments to establish similar programmes, perhaps most notably, the Government of China since the 1990s. In 2007 Mel became the Chair of Australia and New Zealand’s Equipment Energy Efficiency programme and where she led the phase-out of inefficient lighting. Mel moved to the International Energy Agency in February 2014 to manage the Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Programme. Mel and her team work with policy makers in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand to develop more effective energy efficiency policy, track its progress and assess its potential.
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Financing Clean Energy in Africa Clean energy investment landscape: setting the scene
Summary The IEA’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022 laid out a new scenario – the Sustainable Africa Scenario (SAS) – which sees the continent achieve by 2030, in full and on time, all of its energy and climate-related goals, including universal energy access and its NDCs.Realising the SAS requires mobilising over USD 200 billion annually by 2030, but energy investment has been declining in Africa and in 2022 was under USD 90 billion. Clean energy spending was a fraction of this at around USD 25 billion – only 2% of the global total despite the recent rise in global clean energy investment. This is far from what…
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The Middle East and Global Energy Markets
The IEA is responding to the energy market impacts of the conflict in the Middle East and continues to closely monitor the latest developments.The disruption to oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on energy infrastructure across the region have major implications for energy security and affordability – and for the world economy. The IEA's Executive Director has said the combined impacts amount to "the greatest threat to global energy security in history." The war in the region that began on 28 February has impeded energy trade flows through the Strait, creating the largest supply disruption in…
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Ramping up Heat Pumps in Moldova: A Roadmap Financing the transition
This chapter considers the economics of heat pumps versus gas boilers and biomass stoves. It explores the role of grants and subsidies and how these affect the lifetime cost of owning a heat pump compared to other heating technologies. Different policy options are then discussed, including potential avenues for multi-lateral policy support at both national and local levels. As previously mentioned, a main barrier to heat pump adoption is the high upfront cost relative to prevailing heating technologies. Governments can help to lower this hurdle through mechanisms such as upfront subsidies or grants and low-interest loans. Another way…
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Gas Market Lessons from the 2022-2023 Energy Crisis Conclusion and lessons learned
Market environment is structurally and geopolitically more fragile One of the primary and most fundamental consequences of the energy crisis is the shift into a structurally more fragile natural gas market environment, compounded by geopolitical uncertainty. The drastic reduction in Russian pipeline flows to Europe also represented a loss of traded gas volumes in the global market. Concurrently, this drove an equally significant reduction in the availability of swing production capacity that had previously provided a degree of price-responsive supply modulation to both the European and global markets. In turn, this led to an increased reliance on LNG trade…
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Global Methane Tracker 2025 Overcoming barriers to abatement
There are gaps in financing, data and capacity Tackling methane emissions from fossil fuel operations represents one of the fastest and lowest-cost opportunities to reduce greenhouse emissions globally. Almost all the available methane abatement measures across the energy sector would be cost-effective to deploy in the presence of a greenhouse gas emissions price of about USD 20/tCO2‑eq. Several factors explain why methane emission reduction measures have not been deployed more widely. For example, companies could be unaware of the scale of the problem or the available solutions. There may be higher-profile opportunities competing for investment resources, or…
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Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency for Business Health and well-being
Energy efficiency can improve working conditions, increase employee productivity and reduce sick leave Energy efficiency improvements can enhance working environments and worker health. By reducing waste heat, air pollutants and other process inefficiencies, they lower health and safety risks while improving comfort and working conditions.In manufacturing, these effects can be direct. For example, in electronics manufacturing, conventional soldering requires thermal pre-heating cycles that exposes workers to high ambient heat as well as safety risks. Replacing this with induction heating enables localised heating of the material, reducing energy demand by around 70% while eliminating heat stress and safety hazards…
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Gaining an Edge Policy implications
An integrated policy package is key to deliver value to businesses and the economy Government intervention can help enhance industrial energy efficiency through effective policy packages. To create effective drivers and preconditions for increasing energy efficiency in the industry sector, policy packages combine three main mechanisms, regulation, information and incentives:Regulation is essential to exclude the worst performing equipment and practices from the market, driving greater energy efficiency at both firm and national level. Information improves firms’ awareness and knowledge of their energy efficiency options, highlighting benefits and enabling more efficient choices in energy-related purchases and use. Increased capacity…
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Global Energy and Climate Model Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE)
The International Energy Agency (IEA) was asked by the COP26 Presidency in 2021 to give an indication of what achieving the 1.5 °C goal would mean for the energy sector. Responding to this request, the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE Scenario) was developed. It represents a global pathway towards the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, but not the only possible one. The IEA has always been clear that there are various paths to reach this objective and that each country will have its own route. Since 2021, the IEA has updated its NZE Scenario each year…
