The world's top economies Tuesday agreed to an action plan to improve efficiency of electricity guzzlers from televisions to cars in a bid to cut energy waste at the first clean energy ministerial, including India here.
The two-day Clean Energy Ministerial, hosted by the US and attended 24 major economies of the world, including India, pledged to the launch of 10 international clean energy initiatives which will cut energy waste, help deploy smart
grid, electric vehicle, and carbon capture technologies.
These initiatives are aimed to support renewable energy markets, expand access to clean energy resources and jobs and support women pursuing careers in clean energy.
The new programmes offer partners concrete, technical actions to promote economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.
The initiatives by economies making up more than 80 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product will eliminate the need to build more than 500 mid-sized power plants world-wide in the next 20 years.
"The Clean Energy Ministerial has brought together leaders from around the world to take unprecedented actions to deploy clean energy technologies - from energy efficiency to renewable energy to smart grids to carbon capture. These steps will promote economic growth, create jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions," said US Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
"What we've seen here is that working together, we can accomplish more, faster, than working alone," he said.
The participating countries represent more than 80 percent of global energy consumption and a similar percentage of the world market for clean energy technologies.
Launched under the Global Energy Efficiency Challenge, these projects will cut energy waste around the world by deploying super-efficient appliances, improving industrial and building efficiency for large-scale facilities, implementing smart grid technologies, and helping to put millions of electric vehicles on the roads.
Under the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, for instance, governments will work with the private sector to transform the global appliance market.
The programme will initially focus on televisions and lighting - two globally-traded products that together account for about 15 percent of household electricity use.
Leading experts estimate that international efforts to improve the efficiency of televisions alone could reduce energy use equal to about 80 power plants by 2030.