Startup Insights

Accelerating energy efficiency - what governments can do

Source : IEA

Notes by Narsi

For those who wish to have regular doses of good energy analyses, I recommend analysis articles from IEA. Some of their reports might be quite long for many of us, but their digests based on these reports are excellent reading material for perspectives.

A recent article provided interesting insights on how governments and related can maneuver to move the needle on energy efficiency. The link is provided above, but here are some highlights:

After the first oil crisis in 1973, Denmark reduced reliance on imported oil, diversifying the energy mix and broad portfolio of energy efficiency policies. Through subsidies and other measures, the percentage of electricity generated from oil declined from 64% to 37% and was further reduced to 5% by 1983. Now, this was initiated by an external shock, but a sustained - rather than a knee-jerk - response by the government enabled it to reach the next level in energy sustainability.
In India, air conditioner manufacturers have to set the default temperature of a device to 24°C by default. Consumers are free to adjust it, but many don’t and thereby save energy without even realising it. This is such an excellent intervention based on behavioral insights. Kudos to the Indian government and industry stakeholders for implementing such a simple, but impactful, idea.
Another interesting suggestion made by the authors of the report is to ensure one-stop-shops for home renovation programmes in which the package combines advice in selecting energy-saving measures, help with applications for permits and incentives, referrals to skilled, reliable professionals, and affordable financing resulting in a higher uptake of projects. Note that large-scale home revocation programs for energy efficiency are in the offing in some large economies worldwide, so this could be a timely suggestion. I have not heard of any such initiative planned in India, but Indian stakeholders such as BEE can perhaps figure out how to use these insights.