CERA and the World Economic Forum issued a report at the conference on how the need to address climate change and the expected surge in energy demand from the developing world have moved energy efficiency to the top of the agenda. However the report also found that, in contrast to the energy industry, in the wider world, energy efficiency is not always understood and this issue is in need of a re-branding to match up with the reality of its potential to governments and business alike.
Energy efficiency will be the single most important source of energy available to the world’s economies in the years to come; - if it gets into the mainstream. All across the world there are empty offices that light up on the skyline at night when the lights have been left on. In our homes often aesthetics and ultra convenience often override decision about reducing energy consumption. Energy efficiency can have an impact. But it may take mandates or painfully high energy prices to provoke a departure from energy inefficient technologies and lifestyles.