365 billion Dollars (approx. 278 billion euros) : this is the money that was spent on energy efficiency around the world in 2012 according to a recent study the leading consultancy Ecofys did for HSBC. As the consultancy notes on its website :
“ Buildings and appliances account for more than three-quarters of these investments, about $271 billion. Transport accounts for $27 billion (…). $56 billion were invested in the manufacturing industry “
The report, which can be downloaded on HSBC’s website presents some interesting facts and figures, including :
At USD 365bn, investment in energy efficiency represents c1.5x investment in renewables.
On page three, one can learn that :
The global economy more than doubled (115%) from 2002 to2012 but energy supply grew by only 30%. This decoupling of economic activity from energy consumption means that each billion of global GDP required almost 40% less energy in 2012 than it did in 2002. This is good news (…)
All this is good news for me as I have been advocating energy efficiency since my Master’s degree thesis and the countless books I read ever since. See below to discover four of them on that topic :