Inside IEA: three main energy efficiency takeaways

Delta Foundation attends EETW for the first time in 2018 to be follow up on the world's latest information in energy-efficiency and campaign strategies

Here along the Tropic of Cancer, summer has arrived early in Taiwan, with temperatures in mid-May already exceeding 35 degrees Celsius. 9800 kilometers away in Paris, the capital of France, winter lingers on, with early mornings around 10 degrees Celsius, streets there are often engulfed in drizzle and mist. One could mistake it for the City of Fog (London) and not the City of Lights.

During my last visit to Paris for COP21, I witnessed the birth of the Paris Agreement. Three years later today, I am back here for the Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Training Week (EETW) hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The history of EETW traces back to 2015. It is a free course on energy efficiency for developing countries and has since trained over 800 people. This year, hundreds of attendees from different countries are in the courses. The intensive 5-day course teaches the latest energy efficiency concepts in four fields: buildings, industry, lighting and appliances, and transportation.

The opening ceremony was attended by many IEA executives, including Vinay Mohan Kwatra (the Ambassador of India to France), Monica Aspe (Ambassador of Mexico to the OECD), and Klavs A. Holm (Ambassador of Denmark to the OECD). In his opening speech, Faith Birol, IEA Executive Director, mentioned that the improvement of energy efficiency is a critical issue with no time to waste; it plays an important role in the mitigation of global warming, the adaptation to climate change, and the prevention of environmental pollution.

"air conditioning" power consumption is growing rapidly

Past discussions regarding energy efficiency often immediately involves power conservation in households, such as turning off the lights, upgrading to energy-efficient equipment, and air conditioning temperature settings. It could also refer to government requested energy conservation in the industry, or high power consumption standards for products. However, IEA teaches us that the concept of energy efficiency doesn't end there. Three new important takeaways can be summarized from this year's courses.

By 2050, around 2/3 of the world’s households will have an air conditioner, and the prevention of subsequent energy loss and grid impact is necessary

The first takeaway is the drastic growth in "air conditioning" power consumption. In the Future of Cooling, recently published by IEA, it was pointed out that the energy consumption giant in the next 30 years is not EVs, nor bitcoins, but the cooling systems hidden in buildings, such as air conditioning, fans, and dehumidifiers. It is estimated that the number of the world's cooling equipment will explode to 8 billion units by 2050, more than twice that of 2016 (3.4 billion units). Among these equipment 5.6 units will be air conditioners which require over 6,000 TWh (6 trillion kWh), almost the equivalent of "1 China" in power consumption.

Even worse is that in comparison with developed countries, such as USA and Japan with over 90% install rate of air conditioners, several emerging countries in the tropical regions, such as India (5%) and Indonesia (7%), only have single digit install rates. This means economic growth will inevitably result in fervent installations. How could the public needs be satisfied while the power grid avoids any blackouts during peak hours? This would rely on significantly higher energy efficiency standards for cooling equipment.

"truck" emissions are accelerating at high speed

A second surprisingly discovery is that the area of which GHG emissions are growing the fastest is not in the industrial or buildings fields, but rather in transportation, by "Trucks". Since the early 70s, transportation has always been the world's largest consumer of fuel. According to statistics in 2015, almost two thirds of the fuel products are feed into various transportation tools (66%), and trucks takes the lead in the growth emissions from burning fossil fuel, more than cars, aerospace, or shipping.

The booming development of logistics demands has brought about the dramatic rise of emissions fromland transportation "trucks"; nations must find ways to improve the related energy efficiency

IEA experts reminded us that the deceleration of the explosive growth in truck emissions can only be achieved if governments of all nations adopt measures, such as the optimization of logistics efficiency, the replacement of transportation fuel (such as by electric power or biofuel), and the improvement of energy efficiency. With proper management, 50% of the unnecessary truck fuel demands can be reduced by 2050.

fossil fuel "subsidies" must be eliminated

The final concept that connects the whole courses is the elimination of "fossil fuel subsidies". This term may seem unfamiliar, but Taiwan has always been on the radar of international organizations in their fossil fuel subsidy surveys. For many years, Taiwan has provided benefits to the fossil fuel industry using tax income and major subsidies to energy prices.

Statistics show a strong correlation between fossil fuel subsidies and international oil prices. The fall of oil prices in recent years resulted in the global fossil fuel subsidies reaching nearly 500 billion USD at one point. The subsidies subsequently dropped dramatically to 262 billion USD in 2016. A notable situation in the past is that "fossil fuel" is the main subsidy recipient, but on said year it fell behind "electricity prices" (41%, first time ever to lead fossil fuels with 40%).

The global fossil fuel subsidy credit follows the fluctuations of oil prices; in 2012, it nearly reached 500 billion USD

Why is it essential to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies? If the government continues to subsidize fossil fuels with high emissions (such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum), it is encouraging the public and the industries to consume energy with high carbon-emissions and high environmental risks. This increases the nation's dependence on fossil fuel and provides no relief to fiscal burdens, which in turn restricts investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy; causing a vicious cycle. This is why international environmental and climate groups have been campaigning for the "Global Divestment Mobilisation" movement in recent years. They demand the government to publish all improper subsidy plans and call for the financial businesses to divest from high-risk energy sources.

discussion + sharing + practice

Delta's main energy issue and social campaign theme over the years has always been the "improvement of energy efficiency". Taiwan is always thinking about introducing new energy sources, and we hope to raise awareness for energy conservation, waste reduction and smart applications, so that this energy island which is 98% reliant on energy imports can transition to gain extra adaptation time. Therefore, every report published by IEA, the world's top research institution, must be read and studied by all of us researching energy topics.

IEA's robust course requires students to follow lectures, share their experiences at home and actual cases, and make group presentations on stage

During the process of the 5-day training, I discovered that IEA not only wishes to promote its own reports or repeat long-standing energy efficiency knowledge, but rather to learn about the issues faced by nations during energy transitions from the international students, as well as to share the situations and actual cases in each country to inspire reflection and serve as models.

What I find most interesting is that students do not just listen to the IEA researchers or experts from international organizations speak on stage, they are asked by the teachers to share their practical experiences and opinions. For instance, during the discussion on fossil fuel subsidies, we heard different response models from various countries. Some students from oil exporting countries shared that this topic is particularly difficult for them because oil is right in their backyards. The public do not understand why they must accept a reasonable oil price that reflects the environmental costs but wish for the prices to be as cheap as possible. When we talked about whether the popularization of EVs may lead to a greater electrical power crisis, there were stark differences in everyone's opinions. Some consider the best way is to optimize pedestrian-friendly spaces in the city (by encouraging travel on foot or bikes) and improve public transportation service quality. This view is not recognized by several Southeast Asian students, because a personally-owned vehicle (an imported one would be best) in these countries is a display of personal status. For them, public transportation is a nightmare (it's hard to even imagine 6-hour commuting per day), and if it is financially possible, locals would never think of public transportation.

IEA has clearly stated that to achieve the temperature control goal stated in the Paris Agreement, 44% of the carbon redit offsetting must be done through energy efficiency improvements

The most interesting class was a group assignment where each group adopts a renowned world city and is given a 50 million USD budget and 18 different plans of various costs to decide how to best utilize the money. The groups have to use the energy efficiency and transportation background knowledge learned from the class in their discussions and convince the mayor of the city to agree to their proposal. They must present the proposal on stage, receive questions and interpellations from the judges, and defend their proposal to win support.

For more interesting reads similar to this one, please visit our "Low-Carbon Living Blog" for future articles.

Reference / 
https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2018/may/iea-hosts-seventh-energy-efficiencytraining-week-for-emerging-economies.html
http://www.iea.org/cooling/?utm_content=buffer7adfa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter-ieabirol&utm_campaign=buffer
https://udn.com/news/story/7332/3143452?from=udn-catebreaknews_ch2