Technological innovation key to hitting energy efficiency targets

Tuesday 19th June 2012

At the end of last week the European Parliament formally approved the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive following much negotiation with EU energy ministers. Although it is still to be ratified by member states this is clearly a major step along the path to a Europe-wide programme of increasing energy efficiency which remains of critical importance to energy suppliers and consumers.

Much of the reaction in the UK has focused on the perceived role the UK delegation played in watering down the directive and the lowering of the 2020 efficiency targets.

However, a DECC spokesperson made an interesting comment about the UK’s negotiating position: "It is important that the directive is not over-prescriptive about how we get there and allows member states sufficient flexibility to innovate, design and implement policy that best reflects national circumstances."

I think this is an important statement. It’s extremely naïve to think that the huge improvements we need to achieve in energy efficiency are going to come from existing technologies and top-down policy making. The market needs to be open for technological innovation and new ideas that will help us make big strides in improving efficiency, rather than relying on legacy measures like home insulation and double-glazing.

These known efficiency measures are undoubtedly important and vital to the long-term process. But they should not be the be all and end all. Energy efficiency is not just about reducing wasted energy, it is also tightly linked to lowering demand and this will not be accomplished with cavity insulation.

New technologies need to be encouraged and given a platform in the market. If the UK Government is serious in its conviction to enable this kind of innovation then this is an important day for energy efficiency in the UK.

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