Energy services analysis: an alternative approach for identifying opportunities to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
Efforts to conserve energy and reduce emissions of associated greenhouse gases often focus on improving the efficiency of current technologies. However, in many instances, changing the ways in which a service is provided may open up greater opportunities to reduce energy use than attempting to make current ways of delivering the service more efficient. This report elaborates on and demonstrates energy services analysis, an analytical approach that investigates opportunities for reducing energy use by changing the manner in which a service is provided, rather than assessing means of making existing technologies more energy efficient, to reduce energy consumption. It looks in-depth at two case studies: substituting electronically disseminated newspapers for paper copies and substituting vehicle-sharing services for personally owned vehicles.