Knowra Energy efficiency Energy efficiency Energy efficiency is the provision of the same service or output with less energy input. It can describe technologies, processes, buildings, or whole economies.
Energy conversion efficiency : The ratio of useful energy output from a conversion process to the energy input. It measures how much input energy becomes the useful output that an efficiency improvement seeks to preserve.
Energy-efficient building : A building designed or retrofitted to provide comfort and other services with relatively little energy. Building envelopes and equipment can reduce energy needed for heating, cooling, lighting, and hot water.
Jevons paradox : The possibility that improved resource efficiency increases total resource consumption by making use cheaper. Lower energy costs can encourage greater use, offsetting some savings from more efficient technology.
Energy conservation : The reduction of energy use, often through changed behavior or reduced service demand. Its focus on reducing use distinguishes it from providing the same service more efficiently.
Waste heat : Thermal energy released as an unwanted byproduct of a process or device. Reducing heat losses is a common route to providing the same service with less input energy.
Industrial energy efficiency : The reduction of energy required to produce industrial goods and services. Process controls, motors, and heat recovery can maintain production while lowering energy input.
Rebound effect : The reduction in expected resource savings when efficiency lowers the cost of using a service. It explains why engineering estimates of energy savings can exceed observed reductions.
Energy productivity : The economic output or service produced per unit of energy consumed. It describes the output-per-energy perspective often used to assess efficiency across economies.
Heat pump : A device that moves heat from a cooler place to a warmer one using work, usually electricity. It can deliver several units of heat per unit of electricity by moving heat rather than generating it directly.
Fuel economy : The distance a vehicle travels per unit of fuel consumed, or its inverse, fuel consumption per distance. It expresses how efficiently vehicles provide passenger or freight transport.
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