World Energy Outlook 2012, IEA
In its World Energy Outlook 2012 (WEO), launched in Brussels on 20th November, the International Energy Agency (IEA) underlines the unexploited potential of energy efficiency in terms of economic gains, energy security improvements and environmental protection.
The multiple benefits of energy efficiency could be achieved if the currently available technologies and practices to improve energy efficiency were systematically adopted, leading to “energy savings, by 2035, equivalent to nearly a fifth of global demand in 2010”, according to IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. “Energy efficiency is just as important as unconstrained energy supply” she explained. Referring to the buildings sector, the WEO deplores the fact that 80% of the economic potential of energy efficiency in buildings remains untapped, largely due to non-technical barriers.