Energy Efficiency Improvements Could Significantly Cut Natural Gas Use

The report, written by the Georgia-based GDS Associates, concluded that if aggressive policies and programs utilizing off-the-shelf energy efficiency technology were implemented today, consumers would save nearly 2.8 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas annually over the next 10 years. That amounts to 12.7 percent of the 22 TCF Americans consumed in 2005. GDS estimated that savings due to greater efficiency could amount to more than 234 TCF over a 50-year period based on today’s rate of consumption – nearly three times the Interior Department’s mean estimate of 86 TCF of natural gas located in currently protected areas off our nation’s coasts.

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