Onur Ünlü: Investments in energy efficiency must be increased

On the occasion of December 14 Energy Conservation Day, Ünlü stated that awareness in this field is gradually increasing in Turkey as the state enters a serious transformation process regarding energy conservation and efficiency.

Pointing out that Turkey has a target to reduce emissions by 100 million tons by 2030, Ünlü noted that energy efficiency practices and support for this field will increase across all sectors.

Drawing attention to the fact that resources from international financial institutions are focused on green transformation, Ünlü said, "If an output beneficial to green transformation is presented to international financial sources, the credit conditions here could expand further and their terms could improve. We believe this will have a significant impact on energy efficiency."

Stating that global energy efficiency investments reached 600 billion dollars last year, Ünlü said, "Let's assume Turkey has a 1 percent share in a 600 billion dollar market. The 1.9 billion dollars spent in this field needs to increase by approximately 3 times to reach the 6 billion dollar level. This is also the figure stated by official authorities. 2024 should be the 'year of energy efficiency' for Turkey."

ENERGY CAN BE USED MORE EFFICIENTLY

Ünlü stated that while the global average for total energy consumption reduction was 1 percent over the last 10 years, Turkey achieved a value above the average at 1.5 percent, adding, "While this rate doubled globally to 2.2 percent in 2022 alone, Turkey became the leading country in this field with a reduction rate of 2.7 percent."

Expressing that the reason for this increase is the rising energy prices due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis as well as measures to combat climate change, Ünlü said that the 2.2 percent reduction rate achieved is not sufficient, and according to scenarios developed for international climate change mitigation, this value should reach 4 percent annually.

Stating that this rate should be around 6 percent in Turkey, Ünlü noted the following:

"I believe 2024 will be a successful year in terms of energy efficiency. Our country setting aggressive targets in the field of energy efficiency in the fight against climate change and the expectations for international financial institutions to finance investments to be made in line with these targets also point to this. As EYODER, we will continue to work to make our country energy-efficient and to serve as a bridge between the public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society."

News Source: 12punto