Doing More with Less: Energy Efficiency Potential in Canada

This report provides an overview of available national and provincial energy efficiency potential studies to assist in assessing the remaining energy efficiency potential in Canada. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately two-thirds of economically feasible, global energy efficiency measures have not been implemented. Therefore, several recent studies have attempted to quantify the remaining energy potential that exists in Canada—and, to improve energy efficiency, identify the barriers that exist. This report provides an overview of these studies. It also applies the studies’ average energy-intensity improvements to the National Energy Board’s long-term energy forecast to determine the impact that such developments would have on future energy consumption in Canada. The report concludes that energy efficiency enrichment, if more aggressively pursued, could reduce stationary energy consumption by up to 15 per cent by 2035. The enhancements could also represent an important policy component of Canada’s approach to reducing GHG emissions.