EPRI Study Finds Greater Efficiency in Electric End-Use Technologies

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo Alto, Calif., recently released an analysis that found that replacing some fossil-fuel end-use technologies with efficient electric ones in residential, commercial, and industrial applications have a potential energy savings of 71.7 quadrillion BTUs and could result in cumulative CO2 reductions of 4,400 million tons between 2009 and 2030. The EPRI analysis, "The Potential to Reduce CO2 Emissions by Expanding End-Use Applications of Electricity," used Washington, D.C.-based Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2008 Reference Case, which accounts for market-driven efficiency improvements, the impact of federally mandated appliance standards and building codes, and rulemaking procedures, as a baseline.

The analysis shows that the residential sector holds the greatest potential for energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions, followed by the commercial and industrial sectors, which are roughly comparable.