Energy efficiency represents the lowest hanging fruit in solving the Climate change challenges. According to a joint study by McKinsey and Vattenfall, energy efficiency savings can reduce CO2-eq emissions by over 4.7 Gt by 2030 at a negative cost. In other words, these measures can be implemented profitably with extremely short payback periods and high internal rates of return. Residential energy efficiency investments typically provide annual returns of 10% or more, but commercial building and industrial upgrades can achieve rates of return of 30-50% or more. A recent study by IEA concluded that if best practices were used in the industrial sector, CO2 emission reductions of 1.9 to 3.2 Gt are possible, and if all countries used best practices for fossil fuel production, reductions of 1.8 to 2.5 Gt are possible. FERC estimates that existing demand response systems could reduce electricity requirements by 37.5 GWe. Currently, waste heat from electricity generation and industrial processes is simply vented. The DOE reports that available waste heat sources exceed the current production of all other U.S. renewable power sources combined — 7 Quad BTU.According to the IEA, energy efficient buildings, industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world's energy needs in 2050 by 33%, and become crucial in controlling global greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions.
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