Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency

From “hidden fuel” to “first fuel”

About this report

As energy efficiency continues to gain attention as a key resource for economic and social development across all economies, understanding its real value is increasingly important. The multiple benefits approach to energy efficiency policy seeks to expand the perspective of energy efficiency beyond the traditional measures of reduced energy demand and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by identifying and measuring its impacts across many different spheres.

The term multiple benefits aims to capture a reality that is often overlooked: investment in energy efficiency can provide many different benefits to many different stakeholders.

Online table of contents

References

  1. In other literature, the multiple benefits of energy efficiency have been variously labelled "co-benefits", "ancillary benefits" and "non-energy benefits" – terms often used interchangeably with “multiple benefits”. The IEA uses the term multiple benefits, which is broad enough to reflect the heterogeneous nature of outcomes of energy efficiency improvements and to avoid pre-emptive prioritisation of various benefits; different benefits will be of interest to different stakeholders.