Energy efficiency provides many advantages. It reduces costs for consumers, businesses, and utilities; reduces greenhouse gas emissions; conserves natural resources; eliminates infrastructure development needs; and allows more renewable energy production.
Additionally, solar PV reduces energy cost burdens for low-income households while improving health equity by reducing air pollution levels. Furthermore, it creates local jobs that cannot be outsourced or automated and increases access to employment opportunities.
Save Money
Energy efficiency is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to lower energy bills and make energy more affordable for consumers. Energy efficiency saves consumers money by decreasing the overall cost of electricity, natural gas and other forms of energy such as gasoline and diesel fuel costs.
Energy Efficiency also offers businesses and communities benefits in terms of increasing competitiveness. Lower operating costs by eliminating investments needed in new capacity, as well as reduced product and service prices that allow companies to offer products at more reasonable prices that draw in new customers.
Individuals can help reduce energy use by switching to ENERGY STAR certified appliances and electronics that use up to 25% less energy than old fashioned incandescent bulbs, and employing effective heating, cooling, and water-saving techniques. Air drying dishes, switching off lights early enough in the evening and using timers or motion sensors on consumer electronics are other easy ways to lower one’s footprint on energy usage. Furthermore, energy-efficient investments contribute significantly to local economic development by providing employment in construction, manufacturing, retail sales distribution without being automated or outsourced – jobs that cannot be automated or outsourced!
Reduce Carbon Footprint
The world energy system is only about 40% efficient, wasting most of the energy inputs (shown as light grey on the World Energy Flow diagram below). By increasing efficiency we can eliminate wasted energy and lower carbon emissions; energy efficiency can also help us decrease dependence on fossil fuels while simultaneously protecting climate and improving quality of life for people around us.
An LED uses the same amount of energy while producing less heat and waste, helping to decrease air pollution levels as well as energy costs for homes and businesses that use this lighting source.
Energy efficiency reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the demand for imported energy, and when combined with renewable energies like solar or wind can create a low-carbon supply that meets both economic and environmental objectives.
Reduce Waste
Energy waste is an increasingly pressing problem that can only be solved with greater energy efficiency. On an individual level, this includes “phantom loads” (plugged-in electronics that continue to consume electricity even when not being used), which account for 10% of household energy bills on average. At larger scales it comes from inefficient buildings, power plants and electricity transmission systems wasting precious energy resources.
New products, appliances and buildings can be designed more efficiently to reduce energy costs and environmental impacts. New lighting technologies use less power for the same task than older incandescent bulbs; rehabilitations to increase insulation and weatherization; upgrading equipment or creating maintenance schedules are other examples.
Businesses that adopt energy efficient measures save operating costs, increase sustainability and meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Furthermore, businesses can take advantage of rebates and tax credits available for initial investments as well as collaborate with waste management companies that specialize in recycling materials for reuse. Energy efficiency creates local jobs in construction, manufacturing, distribution and transportation that cannot be outsourced or automated.
Improve Health
Energy efficiency helps people live healthier lives by limiting exposure to air pollution, uncomfortable temperatures, mold growth and excessive moisture. Furthermore, it may reduce asthma triggers while improving indoor air quality.
Low-income families face increasing energy burdens, often having to choose between paying for food or utilities. Therefore, it is especially crucial that energy efficiency programs address this population.
Energy efficiency sectors offer communities many tangible benefits. A significant portion of our economy’s jobs involve researching, manufacturing and installing energy saving devices and appliances.
Investment in energy efficiency enhances national security by decreasing reliance on foreign fossil fuels, cushioning price volatility and supply risks, lowering emissions of criteria pollutants that harm human health and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ACEEE supports policies which foster an energy efficiency sector capable of meeting national goals through investments.