Scaling Up Energy Efficiency

Problem: La eficiencia energética se relaciona directamente con acciones para mitigar el cambio climático. Además, tiene otros beneficios adicionales vinculados con el acceso a la energía, la seguridad energética, la productividad de las economías regionales y la creación de empleo, entre otros. Sin embargo, en general existen distintas barreras, las cuales son significactivas cuando hablamos d...

Problem: Heat waves are becoming increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, posing significant threats to public health, the environment, and the energy infrastructure. Urban areas, with their dense populations and heat-absorbing surfaces, are particularly vulnerable. The rising demand for cooling during these periods strains energy systems, leading to higher greenhouse gas emissions...

Problem: La eficiencia energética se relaciona directamente con acciones para mitigar el cambio climático. Además, tiene otros beneficios adicionales vinculados con el acceso a la energía, la seguridad energética, la productividad de las economías regionales y la creación de empleo, entre otros. Sin embargo, para lograr acceder al potencial existente de eficiencia energética es necesario derri...

Problem: Chile is pursuing plans and investment strategies to implement district energy systems in cities and regions across the country. The overall aim of the initiative is to improve well-being in urban communities currently dealing with severe air pollution, as well as to fulfil part of the country’s commitment to the Paris Agreement by decarbonizing heating. Key message: Replacing outdated an...

Problem: Today’s podcast will explore the application and use of carbon footprint calculations, that is GHG accounting and lifecycle analysis, with Vanja Wylie. In today’s talk, we will discuss, among others, how to GHG accounting can inform decisions on energy efficiency. Key message: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic, standardised approach to quantifying a product's or system's potenti...

Problem: Energy efficiency can enable more than 40% of the required GHG reductions to achieve global climate goals without requiring new technology breakthroughs. Improved energy efficiency has the potential to create new jobs, foster innovation, improve the productive use of electricity -i.e., cooling, clean cooking, lighting, heating, mobility, etc.- and boost economic growth. Energy efficiency...

Problem: It is a critical time for energy efficiency. Despite its recognised importance, improvements have fallen short of expectations. Energy efficiency increase amounted to only around 2% per year between 2011 and 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic further hit energy efficiency efforts hard. In 2020, improvements were estimated to be only 0.8%, which is substantially lower than the SDG target of 2.6%...

Problem: There is a fundamental disconnect between the finance community and energy efficiency. The Mission Efficiency Financing Charette was convened to undo this disconnect. The charette brought together two groups: the world’s finance community (private sector, development banks, philanthropic organisations, climate finance facilities, etc.) and the projects and initiatives. Key message: To add...

Problem: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) could help address climate concerns and enable the much-needed shift toward a circular economy (CE). The ICTs could also contribute to global carbon emissions and generate waste during its production, usage and obsolescence phases. What type of collaborations do we need to address sustainable ICT development? Key message: Climate change ac...

Problem: Production of the currently preferred construction materials for the building industry is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions globally Key message: As buildings become increasingly energy efficient in most parts of the world, the production of the construction materials mostly used - concrete, steel and glass - become the buildings' most severe climate impact. To reduce this cl...

Problem: Geographic Information Systems or Geographic Information Science (GIS) has the potential to be more and more used in energy planning processes. From studies on energy access to grid analytics, researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable energy have started to recognise to potential of this system. Nevertheless, energy efficiency studies and applications are not as present an...

Problem: There is a significant difference in perception of indoor thermal comfort between men and women, with men demonstrating a strong preference lower temperatures than women, sometimes referred to as the ‘battle of the thermostat’. Research discussed in this episode shows that there is also a notable impact on productivity and cognitive performance, with women performing better at high temper...

Problem: Energy efficiency is becoming more and more recognised as a cost-effective mitigation measure for achieving the Paris Agreement and SDGs, however, it is considered a not very tangible, not too sexy, relatively fragmented and small-scale efforts. The question that many actors are facing in the field is to how to bring the scale to Energy Efficiency on the local, national and global level K...

This podcast by the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency promotes the ongoing work and research on energy efficiency through discussions with experts from various sectors, such as buildings, district energy, and datacentres. You will hear experiences and case studies from our global network of experts and we aim to help you understand them. If you want to learn more about energy efficiency or di...