Energy Efficiency Certificate Trading and the NSW Greenhouse Benchmarks scheme

End-use energy efficiency is a measure of the level of end-use energy services (eg heating, cooling, lighting or motive power) that can be delivered per unit of energy ‘consumed’. Energy services and hence efficiency can be difficult to define. Nevertheless, improvements in end-use energy efficiency will play a vital role in any effective and economically efficient response to climate change. Policy intervention is required because many energy efficiency benefits are market externalities, and because there are widespread market failures in end-use decision making – many energy users fail to undertake even cost-effective efficiency options. Unfortunately, there are many complexities and challenges for such policy making. In particular, the ability to improve energy efficiency, and the costs and benefits from doing so, are often spread between many players including infrastructure providers, equipment manufacturers, service providers and owners as well as the actual energy users.