The future scenario
The most recent estimates on the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere globally, as a direct consequence of energy consumption, show an increase from 32.2 Gton/year in 2016 to around 44 Gton/ year in 2040, based on the currennt scenario. Such an increase would put environmental sustainability at serious risk.
As an example, in Europe alone, energy consumption and its related emissions are driven by three main areas of usage: 24% is attributable to the industrial sector, 27% to transportation and 28% to residential and commercial thermal comfort. The impact of thermal comfort is particularly evident in connection with residential energy consumption. On average, final energy consumption for residential heating accounts for approximately 65% of total consumption and that rises to 80% if we factor in energy consumed for the heating of water.
According to the 2016 report of the International Energy Agency, if we consider the total number of possible areas of intervention for curbing CO2 emissions by 2040, 37% derives from the energy efficiency of products used by end users.