IDB: Energy efficiency could reduce consumption 10%

IDB estimates energy efficiency and conservation will reduce consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean by 10% over the next decade. It would cost roughly US$16bn to reach that target, which could reduce total energy consumption by some 143TWh by 2018, according a newly released report from the lender titled A Survey of Energy Productivity in the Americas. The region would have to spend around US$53bn to build the equivalent of 328 gas-powered open cycle plants (250MW each) to produce the same 143TWh of power, the report said. Of the 328 plants, the bulk would be for Brazil (132) followed by Mexico (62), Argentina (34), Venezuela (28), Chile (17.8), Colombia (14), Peru (8), the Dominican Republic (4), Ecuador (4), Costa Rica (3), Guatemala (2), Honduras (2), Jamaica (2), Panama (2), Paraguay (2), Trinidad & Tobago (2), Uruguay (2), El Salvador (1.9), Bolivia (1.7), Nicaragua (1), Suriname (0.5), Barbados (0.3), Guyana (0.2) and Haiti (0.1).