ACEEE: A very long way to go before the U.S. can claim to be energy-efficient

July 17, 2014

Just a few days ago we shared a story that ranked the U.S. electric grid as the worst in the industrialized world. Now the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has released the findings of its second annual scorecard, and the news isn’t any better. The scorecard evaluates the energy efficiency of 16 leading world economies in 31 areas. The U.S. ranked 13th. The ACEEE report notes that the U.S. has made "some progress” toward increased energy efficiency but "the overall story is disappointing.”

Click the link in the new release below for more information and to download a copy of the full report. And feel free to use the Comment form below to share your thoughts.

U.S. Places 13th Out of 16, Behind Australia, India, and South Korea; Germany Wins "World Cup” of Energy Efficiency: 2^nd International Scorecard Evaluates 16 Leading World Economies on 31 Categories

WASHINGTON, D.C.â€"Germany comes in first in a new energy efficiency ranking of the world’s major economies, followed by Italy, the European Union as a whole, China, and France, according to the 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard published today by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). New to the rankings this year are four nations: India, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain.

Now in its second edition, the ACEEE report (http://aceee.org/portal/national-policy/international-scorecard) finds that, while some countries are still significantly outperforming others, there are substantial opportunities for improved energy efficiency in all economies analyzed, including the U.S., which ranked 13^th out of 16 nations - behind countries such as China, Canada, and India. The new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants proposed this June by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (
EPA) would be a major stride in the direction of greater energy efficiency in the U.S. There are dozens of other international best practices that the U.S. could implement to improve its score.

The rankings are modeled on ACEEE’s time-tested approach to energy efficiency ranking of U.S. states, and include 16 of the world’s largest economies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. These 16 economies represent over 81 percent of global gross domestic product and 71 percent of global energy consumption.

On a scale of 100 possible points in 31 categories, the nations were ranked by ACEEE as follows: (1) Germany; (2) Italy; (3) the European Union; (tied for 4) China; (tied for 4) France; (tied for 6) Japan; (tied for 6) United Kingdom; (8) Spain; (9) Canada; (10) Australia; (11) India; (12) South Korea; (13) United States; (14) Russia; (15) Brazil; and (16) Mexico.

The ACEEE report points out that while the U.S. has made some progress towards greater energy efficiency in recent years, the overall story is disappointing. "The inefficiency in the U.S. economy means a tremendous waste of energy resources and money. Across most metrics analyzed in this International Scorecard, in the past decade the United States has made limited progress toward greater efficiency at the national level. The overall U.S. score of 42 is less than half of the possible points and is 23 points away from the top spot. Further, the United States falls behind Canada, Australia, India, and South Korea. These scores suggest that this list of countries may have an economic advantage over the United States because using less energy to produce and transport the same economic output costs them less. Their efforts to improve efficiency likely make their economies more nimble and resilient.”

The ACEEE report raises a critical question: looking forward, how can the United States compete in a global economy if it continues to waste money and energy that other industrialized nations save and can reinvest? In its analysis, ACEEE outlines a number of recommendations for the United States, highlighting four major opportunities for increased energy efficiency: passing a national energy savings target, strengthening national model building energy codes, supporting education and training in the industrial sectors, and prioritizing energy efficiency in transportation spending.

Rachel Young, ACEEE Research Analyst and lead author of the report said: "Countries that use energy more efficiently use fewer resources to achieve the same goals, thus reducing costs, preserving valuable natural resources, and gaining a competitive edge over other countries. In the United States, we need to do more on energy efficiency to remain competitive in an increasingly tough global marketplace.”

In addition to expanding the list of global economies included in the ranking, there have been other changes made since the 2012 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard. New metrics have been added and several existing metrics have been improved with better data sources and increased input from country experts. The new metrics include water efficiency policy, agricultural efficiency, building
retrofit policies, heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards, and investment in energy efficiency by the private sector.

The ACEEE ranking system looks at both "policy metrics” and "performance metrics” to measure a country’s overall energy efficiency. Examples of "policy metrics” include the presence of a national energy savings target,
fuel economy standards for vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for appliances. The "performance metrics” measure energy use and provide quantifiable results. Examples of "performance metrics” include average miles per gallon of on-road passenger vehicles and energy consumed per square foot of floor space in residential buildings.