Potential of $1.2 Trillion in Energy Efficiency Savings

According to a report from McKinsey & Company the US could save $1.2 trillion by 2020 with an investment of $520 billion towards non-transportation energy efficiency. The reduction in energy use would prevent the output of 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. This would be the equivalent of taking all of the passenger vehicles and light trucks off the roads.

A lot of people are fixated on new ways to generate electricity, but this study explores the arguably more reliable solution of new ways to lower the amount of energy we use. In many cases the investment is made in technology that we already have. Whether its weatherizing someone's home, or installing more efficient lighting and windows, the opportunities need expansion and not invention.

Energy efficiency must be treated as a fuel. If the same emphasis was placed on going after the hard to reach fuels throughout the world as it was to lower the energy required to run something, the existing resources we have already employed will become more powerful. If households required half the energy, the utility would require half the power plants (which end up getting paid for by the consumer) to match the demand.

"If we do nothing, we will waste $1.2 trillion of energy," McKinsey partner Ken Ostrowski said. "Over a decade, (the up-front investment) would be $50 billion a year, which is about five times what we invest today. That investment pays back--it's one of the few that generate environmental benefits and economic cost returns."

For more information check out CNET's Green Tech blog.
Read the entire report here (pdf).
Read the executive summary here (pdf).