In recent years, energy efficiency has become one of the primary means of change in the pursuit of more sustainable energy practices, alongside renewables, energy storage and the dwindling use of fossil fuels.

Recent statistics confirm this trend. According to “Energy Efficiency—The Decade for Action,” a June 2023 ministerial brief from the International Energy Agency (IEA), global investment in energy-efficiency technology reached record levels in 2022 at $600 billion.

The paper highlights several other statistics that illustrate this growth. For example, global energy-efficiency progress reached 2.2% in 2022. This is defined as “improvements in energy intensity and refers to how well equipment, machinery, devices and other processes use the energy they consume.” The figure representants a significant increase at twice the average of the previous five years.

This number is also significant because at the same time, global energy demand grew by 1%. The IEA notes that without the growth in energy-efficiency progress, demand would have been three times higher.

In identifying contributing factors, the IEA finds that policies favoring energy efficiency around the globe have strengthened in the past year. Countries that have introduced or strengthened their efficiency policies represent over 70% of the world’s energy consumption.

Spending on certain technologies has also contributed to the growth of efficiency spending overall. Specifically, the IEA highlights the “surging sales” of heat pumps and electric vehicles, which have increased by over 10% and 14%, respectively.

In the United States, heat pumps have eclipsed fossil fuel-based systems, or gas furnaces, for the greater share of new sales in the past year. The two types of systems were roughly neck and neck, with each at about 50% of new sales in 2021. Last year, heat pumps took the lead with about 53% of new sales.

Also contributing to the adoption of efficiency technology, the IEA notes that sales of EVs have grown in the United States and around the globe. According to the brief, 2.3 million EVs were sold globally in the first quarter of 2023, which is about 25% more than the same period in 2022.

A total of 14 million EVs sales are expected for the full year, representing about 18% of total car sales. This follows record sales in 2022, when more than 10 million EVs were sold, representing about 14% of all new sales for the year.

Although growth in efficiency investment is slowing due to increased cost of capital, the IEA projects investment to break more records in the years ahead, reaching $624 billion in 2023 and a whopping $910 billion by 2030.