Energy efficiency should be at the top of every politician’s New Year’s resolution list

(EurActiv, 4 Feb 2023) With Russian gas supplies gone, the energy deficit facing Europe is likely to get worse. Yet, focusing on increasing energy supply while neglecting the need to reduce demand is an asymmetrical strategy, writes Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen.

Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen is the Vice President for Group Public Affairs at Danfoss. 

Energy is the silent bedrock upon which our societies rest. In 2022, the strength of that bedrock was stress-tested. The economic fallout of conflict in Eastern Europe of energy has contributed to rising inflation and the looming recession we all face.

In response, many European nations have scrambled to build out more energy supply, even if it came at the cost of backsliding on their commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Yet an inconvenient truth remains; if we fail to use the energy we have more wisely, we will have no realistic chance of reducing the energy deficit that is destabilising the European economy.

That’s why we must encourage policymakers to set themselves an ambitious New Year’s resolution; use every policy lever available to ensure that every joule of energy goes as far as it can.

Only then can we start to rebuild the energy security we once took for granted, and lay the pathway for a fully-electrified, greener future.

The energy deficit facing Europe is likely to get worse. While consumers and businesses have already suffered at the sharp end of inflation and rising energy bills, they have been insulated by various factors that may not be repeated in 2023.

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EurActiv, 4 Feb 2023: Energy efficiency should be at the top of every politician’s New Year’s resolution list