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Podcast: Climate Now
Episode: Are we undervaluing energy efficiency as a decarbonization strategy?
Description: Are we underestimating the potential of increased efficiency? It wouldn’t be the first time.In 2021, the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasted a 50% increase in global energy demand by 2050. Such forecasts have echoes of the 1970’s, when – in the middle of a global energy crisis – forecasters were anticipating as much as a 300% increase in energy demand over the next 3 decades. Those forecasters missed the mark by about 250%, because they didn’t count on the significant efficiency improvements in home appliances, vehicle fuel economy, industry and home energy demands that kickstarte...