Energy efficiency plays and will continue to play an important role in
the world to save energy and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
However, little is known on how much additional capital should be
invested to ensure using energy efficiently as it should be, and very
little is known which sub-areas, technologies, and countries shall
achieve maximum greenhouse gas emissions mitigation per dollar of
investment in energy efficiency worldwide.
Analyzing completed and slowly moving energy efficiency projects by the
Global Environment Facility during 1991-2010, Closing the Gap: GEF
Experiences in Global Energy Efficiency evaluates impacts of
multi-billion-dollar investments in the world energy efficiency. It
covers the following areas:
1. Reviewing the world energy efficiency investment and disclosing the
global energy efficiency gap and market barriers that cause the gap;
2. Leveraging private funds with public funds and other resources in
energy efficiency investments; using these funds in tangible and
intangible asset investments;
3. Investment effectiveness in dollars per metric ton of CO2
emissions mitigation in 10 energy efficiency sub-areas;
4. Major barriers causing failure and abandonments in energy efficiency
investments;
5. Quantification of direct and indirect CO2 emissions
mitigations inside and outside a project boundary; and
6. Classification and estimation of CO2 emissions
mitigations from tangible and intangible asset investments.
Closing the Gap: GEF Experiences in Global Energy Efficiency can serve
as a handbook for policymakers, project investors and managers, and
project implementation practitioners in need of benchmarks in energy
efficiency project investments for decision-making. It can also be used
by students, researchers and other professionals in universities and
research institutions in methodology development for evaluating energy
efficiency projects and programs.
