Australia has a huge opportunity to export energy saving technologies to China and the world according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA is the world’s leading body on energy, producing reports on oil, gas, coal, renewables and energy efficiency. The IEA’s Energy Efficiency Market Report 2016 found that in 2015 improvements in energy efficiency met more of the world’s energy needs than new generation, making it an enormous business opportunity.
China alone invested $485 billion in energy efficiency between 2006 and 2014, delivering as much ‘energy’ as China’s investment in renewable energy. The global market for energy efficiency was worth a staggering $290 billion in 2015, and is growing at a remarkable rate, increasing 6 per cent in just one year.
The IEA’s detailed new report was released today in Paris, focusing on the booming market for energy efficiency products and services in China. The report notes that energy efficiency is the ‘single largest action’ to help decarbonise the global energy supply.
Just as important is the development of energy efficiency programs, according to the IEA's head of energy efficiency, Brian Motherway.
“Our 2016 Energy Efficiency Market Report demonstrates that businesses and governments around the world understand the critical role energy efficiency will play in the transition to a low carbon economy,” he said.
"This opens up significant opportunities for Australia to tap into the rapidly growing export market for energy efficient products and services, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.
"I’m looking forward to discussing these opportunities at the National Energy Efficiency Conference in November."
Motherway will be visiting Sydney in November 2016.
The IEA's 2016 Energy Efficiency Market Report can be downloaded from the IEA website: www.iea.org/eemr16/