International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Efficiency Market Report 2016

The new Energy Efficiency Market Report 2016 of the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that energy intensity of the amount of energy used per unit of GDP has improved by 18% last year. This means that growth in global economy needed less energy. The case of China, in particular, displayed improvement by 5.6% in its energy intensity. The country’s primary energy demand grew by just 0.9% in 2015, its lowest rate since 1997, while its economy managed to grow by 6.9%. These findings demonstrate that energy efficiency is imperative in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Despite this outstanding improvement, the report stressed that global progress remains too slow. Global energy intensity improvements need to achieve at least 2.6% per year to attain a decarbonized energy system. Download the full report at www.iea.org.