Energy efficiency is maybe the most important key word in Sønderborg’s recipe for cost-effective decarbonization. When we use less energy to perform the same task, we eliminate energy waste. Today energy is being wasted everywhere across sectors. In the industrial sector, inefficient electric motors waste energy and the excess heat that is generated from production is not utilized. And in buildings vast amounts of energy is wasted because simple measures to monitor and control energy use are not in place.
Electrifying is also a way of saving energy because electricity in general waste far less energy than fossil fuels. In gasoline powered vehicles for instance around 80 percent of the energy is lost. Electric vehicles on the other hand uses 80 percent – wasting only 20.
The growing demand for green energy makes our focus on energy efficiency even more urgent. Reducing our energy waste makes it more likely that we can cover our energy need with energy based on renewables.