Which country owns bragging rights on energy efficiency?
July 20, 2016 | By Rehana Begg
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has issued its third edition of the International Energy Efficiency Scorecard report measuring the energy efficiency of 23 of the world’s largest energy-consuming countries. Standing in 10th place, Canada earned 59 points and ranked just under Spain, South Korea, and the United States.
On a scale of 100 possible points in 35 categories, the nations were ranked by ACEEE as follows: Germany (1), Italy (2, tied), Japan (2, tied), France (4), UK (5), China (6), Spain (7), South Korea (8, tied), United States (8, tied), Canada (10), Netherlands (11), Poland (12), Taiwan (13), India (14), Turkey (15), Australia (16), Russia (17), Indonesia (18), Mexico (19), Thailand (20), South Africa (21), Brazil (22), Saudi Arabia (23).
Together these countries represent 75 per cent of all the energy consumed on the planet and over 80% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The report finds that Canada scored low on industrial efficiency and would benefit from establishing a mandate for plant
energy managers and mandatory energy audits. The research indicated that just 5 per cent of the electricity consumed by the industrial sector is generated by CHP, and only about 3 per cent of manufacturing GDP is spent on manufacturing R&D. Other countries, most notably Japan, have improved energy savings in this sector with increased investment in industrial R&D and requirements for energy managers and audits.
According to the report, Canada would benefit from energy efficiency improvements to its transportation sector. Like the
United States, Canada is a car-heavy economy, which means that very little daily travel occurs on more-efficient forms of transport. Only 2.9 per cent of travel occurs on public transport in Canada, and as a result the country has a high number of VMT in personal vehicles per capita.
ACEEE evaluated each country using 35 policy and performance metrics spread over four categories: buildings, industry, transportation, and overall national energy efficiency efforts. Germany scored the most points in the national efforts, buildings, and industry categories, while India tied with Italy and Japan for first place in transportation.
