Global energy efficiency transition tendencies: Development phenomenon or not?
Philip Kofi Adom
Abstract
I assessed energy efficiency performance and investigated transition tendencies for economies at different development levels. I found that energy efficiency performance is tied to the level of economic development , with developed economies exhibiting higher performance than developing economies. Furthermore, developed economies are more likely than developing countries to transition out of a low energy-efficient (LEE) state. Consequently, achieving higher energy efficiency (HEE) status is expected to be highly sustainable in the short-, medium-, and long-term for developed countries. However, for similar achievements, I found moderate sustainability in the medium-to long-term for upper-middle-income countries and higher unsustainability in the medium-to long-term for lower-middle-income countries. Addressing the gap in the global energy efficiency system requires a ‘big push’ investment in energy efficiency, particularly in developing countries, in addition to implementing a broad policy overhaul aimed at eliminating or reducing market barriers and inefficiencies in energy efficiency.