ABOUT THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENT
The Importance of Energy Efficiency to the U.S. Economy
February 18, 2013 (ACEEE)
“Since 1970…demand for travel, heating, lighting, and other energy services grew dramatically…[and] 74 percent of that growth in energy-related demand was met through new efficiency improvements, compared to 26 percent from conventional energy supply methods. In other words, we are clearly doing more with less…
“ACEEE estimates that in 2010 $479–670 billion was spent in the U.S. on energy efficiency goods and services such as energy efficiency program expenditures, sales of ENERGY STAR products, investments in building efficiency improvements, repairs and new construction, trends in manufacturing energy use and investments, and sales of efficient vehicles…”
“The incremental cost of increased energy efficiency (e.g., upgrading from an average refrigerator to an ENERGY STAR model) was $72–$101 billion in 2010…[significantly greater than] in 2004…By contrast, $170 billion was spent on conventional energy supply in 2010, which is about twice the investment in energy efficiency…
“…Investments in energy efficiency and the resulting energy cost savings supported about 300,000 jobs in 2010 in the American economy. The productivity of our economy may be currently more directly tied to greater levels of energy efficiency than to energy supply…[Efficiency is] as important as conventional energy to the economy, and because of efficiency, the economy is more productive for a lower incremental cost…”
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