Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)
Reducing emissions will depend on an ‘energy efficiency first’ principle and a secure and sufficient supply of low-carbon energy at competitive prices. The EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) aimed at improving energy efficiency by implementing actions in all sectors of the economy in the EU.
Article 7 of the EED sets the target of 1.5 % cumulative annual energy end-use savings. The EED recommends implementation of an energy efficiency obligation scheme (EEO) with trading of white certificates as an option for achieving the additional energy savings required for complying with Article 7. Transformation can be facilitated by policy means and government initiatives but its effect is still uncertain as it depends largely in national implementation, with the exception of EU ETS.
Energy efficiency programs can contribute to the transition to a green energy economy. White Certificates Scheme has provided a stimulus for utilities to evolve their business model towards the integration of energy efficiency services. However, the positive macroeconomic impacts are not unconditionally granted. Understanding that there are technical, social, and organizational reasons why optimal energy efficiency measures are not being implemented by industrial companies would help in policy development.
The revised EED proposal put forward a binding energy efficiency target of 36% improvement from 1990 base level by 2030, up 3.5% from the previous target. The final agreement establishes an EU energy efficiency target of 11.7% for 2030, exceeding the Commission's original ‘Fit for 55' proposal. Another change, this time related to the private sector has to do with the need of energy audits, which will no longer be determined by company type, but rather by level of energy consumption, with mandatory energy management systems for the largest users.
The chemical industry is an example of continuous energy efficiency improvement, for example by applying process integration, process intensification and the increased used of cross-cutting technologies such us Combined Heat and Power (CHP). The latest was already included in the report Energy efficiency and GHG emissions: Prospective scenarios for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry. Moreover energy savings should continue to be encouraged, regardless of the technology or the energy carrier used.
As studies suggest energy consumption in Europe would have been higher in the absence of energy efficiency policies, therefore they should avoid overlap and counterproductive interferences between directives, and avoid tensions between GHG and energy consumption reductions, incorporating the new electricity market design package long term measures.
