Cool it, hot stuff!

When we cool or heat our buildings, we waste a lot of energy—and release emissions that damage the climate. Our climate podcast energy efficiency episode shows how you can turn that around

When I was a kid, my dad used to go around the house switching off lights and shouting that we were wasting electricity—in those days that meant we were throwing away money. My eight-year-old daughter goes around the house switching off lights, shouting that we’re wasting electricity—which today means we’re harming the climate.

Energy efficiency is a crucial part of the fight against climate change. In our climate podcast energy efficiency episode, we’ll show you how to reduce the energy you use to cool or heat your home—and the impact that can have on climate change.

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In the climate podcast energy efficiency episode, you’ll find out:

· The electricity and fuel used to heat, cool and light buildings account for nearly 40% of energy consumption in Europe. It’s responsible for around 35% of greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings are the single biggest consumers of energy, so making them more efficient can have a big impact on the race to meet climate goals

· 75% of buildings and housing could be made more energy efficient. But less than 1% of housing is renovated each year for energy efficiency

· The European Union wants to cut overall emissions by 40% by 2030 and it wants to increase energy efficiency by more than 30%.

· One energy efficiency programme operated by the European Investment Bank, ELENA, has worked on 95 projects so far. These projects will eventually lead to over €6 billion in investment in energy and transport efficiency. That will save more than 3,600 GWh of energy and 1.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year

If you’ve got something to say about climate in general or this podcast in particular, let me know @EIBMatt on Twitter. And don’t forget to subscribe to Climate Solutions.

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