The main objective of the study was to provide insight in the driving forces for energy conservation and their relation with conservation policy instruments and to investigate the present and future situation regarding energy conservation in different countries in terms of differences and common challenges. Research and Development policies should particularly pay attention to the energy services and branches with a relatively small technical energy conservation potential available at the moment, in particular those for which the share in total consumption is large or is projected to grow. For the manufacturing sector, the technical saving potential in the subsectors Chemicals, Metal products and Building materials should be enlarged.
Feedstocks comprise a substantial share of the industrial energy consumption.
Research is required on complex integrated process improvements, substitution of materials, possibilities for recycling and utilisation of residuals and waste in industrial processes. Energy conservation policy should close the gap between realised energy savings and technically available potential, prioritising those energy services and manufacturing branches which require a large share of the energy consumption, now or in the future. In households, for hot water, cooking and cooling a large gap between technical potential and realisation is calculated. Furthermore, heating is important since it covers a large share. This 'efficiency gap' is smaller in the manufacturing sector where the investors are more rational.