Energy efficiency

Buildings, industry, transport, and mobility are all identified as the sectors with the largest potential for energy saving. This is true in industrialised as well as developing countries. These sectors are markedly different from each other but also have many challenges in common, like creating and maintaining sustainable systems of power supply, heating, cooling, and lighting, just to name a few.

Sweden has identified energy efficiency as one of its main priorities and sees it as a central instrument to achieve higher levels of sustainability. With ambitious targets set in the Energy Agreement and Climate Framework, Sweden aims to become a net-zero carbon economy by 2045. To achieve this goal, Sweden applies a holistic approach to promote cooperation between multiple actors across several levels that include the public sector, industry, academia, and households.

The Swedish model of building broad coalitions and working across different sectors to achieve sustainability has resulted in measurable impacts. Everything from reformed national subsidies and regulations to energy-efficient municipal planning and the development of technology procurement. However, a sustainable city is not created by only replacing inefficient lightbulbs. The sustainable city is a whole ecosystem of solutions, which can only come into effect when sustainability is approached from a holistic perspective – where the sum is greater than its parts.

The future

According to the International Energy Agency, improvements in energy efficiency have been in decline since 2015. Continuous progress plays a crucial role, not only in reaching key sustainability targets but also for sustaining competitiveness and economic growth. The slowdown of improvements can, therefore, have major implications for not only sustainability but also for the more general economic development of governments and businesses.

Even though Sweden’s work in energy efficiency has led to great results so far, more needs to be done. A singular focus on increasing the amount of energy efficiency-related investments is not the most effective way to create a sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure. This complex challenge needs a solution where the issue is tackled through a combination of subsidies, regulations and a culture of cooperation that allows for an innovative business climate to thrive. Energy labelling of products, targeted economic subsidies to the industry and further development of networks for innovative solutions can together help with creating solutions that enable flexible and efficient use of energy.