World Energy Outlook 2006

which have much lower equipment ownership and use than in the OECD, are
poised for a boom in the sale of electrical equipment and appliances. The
efficiency of the equipment on offer in developing countries is frequently low,
so even greater relative savings can be attained by measures to improve the
energy efficiency of the products on offer.
More efficient air-conditioning, mainly in non-OECD countries, accounts for
another quarter of electricity savings in buildings in the Alternative Policy
Scenario. In OECD countries, the proportion of building floor area that is
space-conditioned (i.e. heated and/or cooled) has grown dramatically over the
last three decades. Coupled with the continuing increase in total building floor
area, this would have increased building energy demand exponentially had
there not also been an almost equally large fall in the amount of energy needed
to heat or cool a given amount of building space. Better insulation and more
efficient heating, ventilating and air-conditioning equipment has enabled the
average amount of energy used to space-condition a unit area to remain
relatively constant over this time frame despite the considerable increase in
thermal comfort. Non-OECD countries are expected to experience similar
growth in diffusion of air-conditioning, so this is where the greatest potential
for savings lies.
More efficient lighting also offers considerable potential for electricity savings,
and exploiting these saves 483 TWh, or 21%, in 2030 compared with the
Reference Scenario (Box 9.3). Savings from more efficient lighting are
estimated at 38% of total lighting energy use in the Alternative Policy Scenario,
assuming only cost-effective investment (IEA, 2006b).
Box 9.3: Opportunities to Save Energy Through More Efficient Lighting
Lighting accounts for an estimated 19% of global electricity demand.
World lighting demand is greater than all the power generated from
either the world’s hydroelectric or nuclear power plants. Three-quarters
of all electric light is consumed in the residential and services sectors. It
results in almost 1.9 Gt of CO 2 emissions. Enormous amounts of
electricity are wasted in lighting. Light is routinely supplied to spaces
where no one is present. There are very large differences in the efficiency
of competing lighting sources and in the way lighting systems are
designed to deliver light where it is needed. Moreover, architecture often
makes poor use of abundant daylight, which could contribute more to
lighting needs.
244 World Energy Outlook 2006 - THE ALTERNATIVE POLICY SCENARIO
© OECD/IEA, 2007