India's energy efficiency surpasses global average growth rates

India's energy efficiency has improved by 1.9% from 2000 to 2023. This rate is higher than the global average of 1.4%, according to a study by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The report highlights that India's performance outpaces other BRICS nations, which averaged 1.62%. However, India still lags behind developed countries like the US and Germany, where energy efficiency rose by over 2% during the same period. Between 2012 and 2022, India's carbon dioxide emissions linked to energy use rose by 706 million tonnes. Economic growth was the main driver of this increase, with less influence from changes in fuel sources. Despite the rising emissions, improvements in energy efficiency and a shift toward renewable energy helped reduce emissions by around 450 million tonnes. RBI researchers expect that as renewables replace fossil fuels, the impact on emissions will grow stronger. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind now make up 2.1% of total primary energy in 2022-23. This marks a significant, though small, contribution to emissions reduction in the last decade. To meet net-zero emissions targets, India needs to increase its renewable energy efforts. The report notes that the cost of solar and wind energy has fallen below that of new coal power plants, alleviating previous concerns about renewable costs. The study uses a method called Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to analyze the factors contributing to India’s emissions growth from 2012 to 2022. It looks at aspects like GDP growth, energy efficiency, economic structure changes, fuel composition shifts, and the rise of renewables in electricity generation.