Global Market for Energy Efficiency Worth $310B And Accelerating: IEA

"For a variety of reasons -- whether it be mitigating climate change, enhancing security, increasing economic incentives or even improving the health of indoor living -- countries around the world have been investing in ways to boost energy efficiency. Worldwide, that market of cutting back on energy waste is growing and is now worth at least $310 billion, reports the International Energy Agency.

'For many years, it's been called the 'fifth fuel' because it came after oil, gas, coal and electricity,' said Hans Nilsson, a Swedish board member of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, of which the IEA is a member. 'But first of all, it is bigger and it's cheaper, so the IEA last year switched it around and called energy efficiency the 'first fuel.' It's a very good twist. Now, they are reiterating that and saying it with precision.'

Indeed, the IEA evaluated 18 countries and found that 'investment in energy efficiency was larger than supply-side investment in renewable electricity or in coal, oil and gas electricity generation, and around half the size of upstream oil and gas investment,' the report stated. The results of these investments helped drop the total final energy consumption by 5 percent between 2001 and 2011."

Christina Reed reports for ClimateWire October 9, 2014.