Energy efficiency has been at the centre of the national energy strategy and policies of all countries for decades. Available technologies are plenty, they are affordable, and solutions are practical offering multiple benefits to the energy producers and users.
The SDG target is to increase the rate of energy intensity improvements to 2.6% per year through 2030. The current rate remained at 1.8% compared to the year before despite energy prices remained low. This was among the main reasons that helped to maintain the global CO2 emission flat over the recent years. Until 2010 the energy intensity improvement rate was lower at 1.3%. This shows significant progress has been made, but there is lots of room to ramp up the current efforts. This can only be enabled by developing and deploying technologies and new policies, regulations and financing models. The synergies with the renewable energy technologies should also be utilised to expand low-carbon solutions and energy efficiency business models need to be integrated with the energy sector that is being increasingly digitalised.