Abstract
Energy efficiency improvement is one of the most important measures for CO2 emission reduction and energy resource sustainability. There are large differences in energy efficiency among countries in several sectors. The differences are also potential opportunities for energy-saving and CO2 emission reduction. The potential emission reductions in the power, iron and steel, and cement sectors alone are 2.7 GtCO2 per year in total. However, there are various barriers to technology diffusion. The barriers differ based on country, sector, size of company, and other factors. Removing the barriers is important and also presents opportunities for green growth. Barriers are very large in general, and therefore, high carbon prices are needed for deep emission reductions when explicit carbon prices, such as with carbon taxes and emission trading schemes, are adopted. However, the feasibility of introducing high carbon prices is very slim. Removing barriers by bottom-up measures is more useful and acceptable in the real world than a top-down approach, and such measures are expected to reduce emissions substantially.
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Notes
- 1.
“Production-based CO2” is measured by emissions inside a nation. Emission measurement is widely used in several statistics and for emission reduction targets. “Consumption-based CO2” measurement focuses on the CO2 emissions generated to produce the goods that are consumed inside a region regardless of production site locations and inevitably, imports and exports of goods must be taken into account. This concept is based on the LCA approach, and is similar to the concept of carbon footprint.
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Akimoto, K. (2012). Potential for Energy Efficiency Improvement and Barriers. In: Yamaguchi, M. (eds) Climate Change Mitigation. Lecture Notes in Energy, vol 4. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4228-7_8
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