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Public Procurement of Energy Efficiency Services : Lessons from International ExperienceThis book explores energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) as a means of overcoming some of the more difficult hurdles in promoting energy efficiency in public facilities. ESPCs represent a very attractive solution to many of the problems that are unique to public agencies, since they involve outsourcing a full project cycle to a service provider. From the detailed audit through implementation and savings verification, ESPCs can relieve public agencies of bureaucratic hassles, while service providers can secure the off-budget project financing and be paid from the actual energy savings, thus internalizing project performance risks. ESPC bidding also allows public agencies to select from a range of technical solutions, maximizing the benefit to the agency. Global experience suggests that ESPCs have been more effective at realizing efficiency gains than many other policy measures and programs, since the service providers have a vested interest in ensuring that a project is actually implemented. Many of the country governments interviewed for the study also saw enormous potential in bundling, financing, and implementing energy efficiency projects on a larger scale in the public sector, a method that increases the rate of efficiency gains and creates further benefits through economies of scale.
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Implementing Energy Subsidy Reforms : Evidence from Developing CountriesPoorly implemented energy subsidies are economically costly to taxpayers and damage the environment through increased emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. Energy subsidies also create distortive price signals and result in higher energy consumption or production as well as barriers to entry for cleaner energy services. Subsidies to consumption, by lowering end-use prices, can encourage increased energy use and reduce incentives to conserve energy efficiently. Universal energy-price subsidies tend to be regressive because benefits are conditional upon the purchase of subsidized goods and increase with expenditure. This report selected a representative sample of case studies in 20 developing countries, based on a number of criteria, including the countries' level of development (and consumption) and energy dependency (distinguishing between net energy exporters and importers). The case studies have been selected on the hypothesis that energy dependence and per capita income appear to be the key drivers of subsidy reforms in developing countries. Of the two criteria, energy dependence is expected to be the most powerful determinant of the choice to engage in energy reforms, whereas the level of per capita income may pose different challenges in relation to the distributional impact of such reforms on the poor. Energy net importers are expected to have more incentives to undertake energy subsidy reforms when the fiscal burden of such subsidies reaches a significant percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), particularly when there are already macro unbalances related to high thresholds of public budget and debt. Low- and middle-income countries are expected to display a larger impact of energy subsidy reforms on consumption. This impact reflects the opportunities to influence future behavior rather than current consumption trends because of inertia, vested interests, and the presence of affordability issues.
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Financing Energy Efficiency : Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and BeyondEnergy for heating, cooling, lighting, mechanical power, and various chemical processes is a fundamental requirement for both daily life and economic development. The negative impact on the environment of current energy systems is increasingly alarming, especially the global warming consequences of burning fossil fuels. The future requires change through the development and adoption of new supply technologies, through a successful search for new, less resource-intensive paths of economic development, and through adoption of energy. Greater energy efficiency is key for shifting country development paths toward lower-carbon economic growth. Especially in developing countries and transition economies, vast potential for energy savings opportunities remain unrealized even though current financial returns are strong. Activities included specialized technical assistance, training, and applied research covering the four primary areas of country interest: (a) development of commercial banking windows for energy efficiency; (b) support for developing energy service companies (ESCOs); (c) guarantee funds for energy efficiency investment financing; and (d) equity funding for ESCOs or energy efficiency projects. One clear message from the experience of the three country Energy Efficiency Project is the importance of establishing and maintaining practical, operationally focused dialogue between the banking community and the energy efficiency practitioner community.