As world-class athletes descend on Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games, twenty-three countries are vying in a very different arena to become leaders in energy efficiency.
On July 20, ACEEE will release the 2016 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, showcasing winning energy efficiency policies and programs from around the globe. This year’s report examines 23 of the world’s top energy-consuming countries’ efficiency policies and performance. Together these countries represent 75% of all the energy consumed on the planet and over 80% of the world’s gross domestic product in 2013.
Changes since the last edition
New countries: The 2016 report features eight new contestants: Indonesia, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey. They will join the 2014 competitors which include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
New metrics: We use 35 metrics, including 4 new ones to evaluate each country’s national commitment to energy efficiency as well as its efficiency policies and performance in the buildings, industry, and transportation sectors. New metrics include data availability, presence of energy management systems in industry, efficiency standards for motors, and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) policy.
Policy versus performance weighting: This year’s scorecard leans more heavily towards energy efficiency policy, allocating 60% of the points to policy metrics and 40% to performance metrics, as opposed to the 50/50 breakdown used in the previous scorecard. Our new weighting allows for a fairer comparison between the countries since performance metrics can be affected by factors other than energy efficiency that cannot be controlled such as climate, geography, and economic structure.
Who wins this year, and who loses? Tune in here next week for the 2016 report to see how the top energy-consuming countries fare in our energy efficiency rankings. A few surprises may be in order!
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International Building Policies and Codes Industrial Programs Energy Efficiency and Climate ChangeAuthors
