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Climate change is recognised as one of the key challenges humankind is facing. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector including data centres generates up to 2% of the global CO2 emissions, a number on par to the aviation sector contribution, and data centres are estimated to have the fastest growing carbon footprint from across the whole ICT sector, mainly due to technological advances such as the cloud computing and the rapid growth of the use of Internet services. There are no recent estimations of the total energy consumption of the European data centre and of their energy efficiency. The aim of this paper is to evaluate, analyse and present the current trends in energy consumption and efficiency in data centres in the European Union using the data submitted by companies participating in the European Code of Conduct for Data Centre Energy Efficiency programme, a voluntary initiative created in 2008 in response to the increasing energy consumption in data centres and the need to reduce the related environmental, economic and energy supply security impacts. The analysis shows that the average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the facilities participating in the programme is declining year after year. This confirms that voluntary approaches could be effective in addressing climate and energy issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Paris Agreement goal of stabilizing temperature below 1.5C calls for a reduction of global energy consumption. • Energy Efficiency policies are necessary but not sufficient to reduce energy consumption. • Energy Conservation and Energy Sufficiency Policies complement Energy Efficiency policies, together they can reduce energy demand. • The article presents some existing and new policies which address sufficiency. • There is the need for coherent policy package with different types of policy instruments addressing efficiency and sufficiency. There is a strong consent among scholars and policy makers that limiting current global energy demand and gradually reducing it towards a sustainable level of consumption is a key component of any strategies and pathways to reach the Paris Agreement climate target, and, in particular, carbon neutrality by mid-century. Given the stringency and urgency of the climate target and the current global increase of energy demand, in addition to investments in energy efficiency technologies, there is the need for a change of energy end-users behaviour and life style to obtain additional energy savings by limiting the demand for services. Traditionally, energy efficiency policies have mainly targeted and promoted energy efficient technologies (e.g., energy performance standards for vehicles, appliances and buildings, financial incentives for new technologies, etc.). In some cases, the energy savings achieved have been less than expected, due to a rebound effect, or because external factors (e.g., growth in populations or economies) have increased energy consumption. The "traditional" energy efficiency policies are still very necessary, but are not sufficient for reaching the Paris Agreement target and the rapid reduction of the energy demand. Policies focusing on energy conservation and sufficiency principles complement efficiency policies, in particular those aiming at changing end-user consumer behaviour and lifestyle by imposing some limitation to the demand for energy services. The article first reviews the concept of energy savings compared to energy efficiency and introduce the concept of energy sufficiency. Then the article explores and discusses some existing and new policy instruments that can address energy conservation and sufficiency such as: personal carbon allowances; energy/carbon taxation; progressive appliance and vehicles standards, and progressive building codes. The article's focus is mainly on individual end-users and on residential buildings. Finally, the article provides an ex-ante assessment of the policies analysed, including their limitations, and offers some policy recommendations, based on a combination of instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the status and trends of the European Union (EU) residential energy consumption in light of the energy consumption targets set by the EU 2020 and 2030 energy and climate strategies. It assesses the energy efficiency progress from 2000 to 2016, using the official Eurostat data. In 2016, the residential energy consumption amounted to 25.71% of the EU's final energy consumption, representing the second largest consuming sector after transport. Consumption-related data are discussed together with data on some main energy efficiency policies and energy consumption determinants, such as economic and population growth, weather conditions, and household and building characteristics. Indicators are identified to show the impact of specific determinants on energy consumption and a new indicator is proposed, drawing a closer link between energy trends and policy and technological changes in the sector. The analysis of these determinants highlights the complex dynamics behind the demand of energy in the residential sector. Decomposition analysis is carried out using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index technique to provide a more complete picture of the impact of various determinants (population, wealth, intensity, and weather) on the latest EU-28 residential energy consumption trends. The article provides a better understanding of the EU residential energy consumption, its drivers, the impact of current policies, and recommendations on future policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a substantial economic energy saving potential exists in the residential sector of the European Union, the energy efficiency service (EES) market is much less developed in this market segment than in other demand sectors (e.g. the industry or the public/service sector). This paper presents an analysis of the current situation and existing potentials for future expansion. A specific analysis methodology has been developed and applied by a research consortium in 18 EU countries. This methodology has mostly built upon an extensive review of the existing literature and on interviews of a large number of acknowledged experts. Its application has allowed identifying encouraging development trends in specific market segments where the possibility of aggregating the EES demand or of exploiting good relationships with customers have created interesting investment opportunities. These trends have been observed in particular in Germany, Denmark, France, Flanders (BE), Hungary, Romania and UK. The assessment performed has also allowed discussing a series of strategies and policy measures that can be adopted to overcome existing barriers to market development. The general conclusion drawn in the paper is that energy efficiency policies supporting EES markets in the residential sector are highly needed. Although EU policies have typically a limited direct impact, they can increase trust into EESs and EES providers. At the national level, a stronger collaboration of governments or local administrations with banks to finance EESs is still very necessary in many EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]