How can EU Member States Prove 9 Percent Energy Savings by 2016?

EU Member States have pledged to save at least 9 percent of final energy consumption (such as electricity, gas, and oil) between 2008 and 2016. The methods that an EU project, coordinated by the Wuppertal Institute, has developed and recently published will enable them to prove attainment of that target. "It is hardly ever possible to directly measure energy savings; you have to calculate them with reference to the case without an energy efficiency improvement measure. This is why it is so important that the results of the calculation are credible and comparable between the Member States. Our methods are designed to make this comparison possible", says Dr. Stefan Thomas, director of the Wuppertal Institute's Research Group Energy, Transport and Climate Policy and co-ordinator of the project.

He adds, "In order to mitigate climate change, we should only let energy savings from 2008, which were triggered by energy efficiency policy and energy services in addition to historical trends, count against the target." The methods developed by the project will in principle, however, also enable the calculation of energy savings before 2008 and due to trends.

Due to the EU Directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy services, Member States have adopted national targets to save at least 9 percent of their final energy consumption by 2016. The corresponding amount of energy saved must be proven to the European Commission. The Directive is, however, quite vague as to how these savings shall be calculated.

21 organisations participated in the 30-months long research on "Evaluation and Monitoring for the EU Directive on Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services - EMEEES" that was finalised in 2009. The project developed basic bottom-up methods (summing up energy savings of single measures) and top-down methods (analysis of indicators of energy consumption) for the calculation and a total of 34 concrete case applications for these methods. In order to facilitate the Commission's task to compare the results, the project also proposed checklists for the content of the reports to be filed by the Member States on the evaluation of an energy efficiency improvement measure (bottom-up) or an indicator (top-down).

The final report "Measuring and reporting energy savings for the Energy Services Directive - how it can be done" can be accessed at www.evaluate-energy-savings.eu along with all other products like concrete evaluation methods, evaluation reporting checklists, etc.

Press release by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy

Responsible: Prof. Dr. Manfred Fischedick, Vice President

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