Speaking at the Energy Efficiency Awareness Index 2021 promotion meeting held in partnership with the Ministry and the Energy Efficiency Association, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez stated that the social perception on energy efficiency has increased and that 3 thousand people have been surveyed in 26 cities for the awareness index.
Dönmez stated that according to the survey, the energy efficiency awareness index is 163.8 points out of 200, and said, “This value shows that the public is at a medium-high level of awareness about energy efficiency. The previous index was 157.7 points. The 6.1-point increase shows that there has been some slight movement in the social sensitivity on this issue.” he said.
Stating that the Energy Efficiency Behavior Index is 148.5 points out of 200, Dönmez said:
“This value shows that our behavioral dimension on energy efficiency is medium-low. What does this result mean to us? As a society, we know about energy efficiency, we have a high awareness of this issue, but we are not that successful in putting it into practice. We are good in theory but weak in practice. However, I would like to underline this point. Compared to the previous year, there is an increase of 11 points here. This is a positive development in terms of moving energy efficiency from knowledge level to behavioral level, but our goal here is to get as close to the highest score as possible. That’s when energy efficiency becomes a social action and an integral part of our cultural practice.”
“The highest knowledge, interest and behavior towards energy efficiency is in the 35-44 age group”
Dönmez said that attitudes and behaviors related to energy efficiency were discussed in the research and continued as follows:
“We see that the highest level of knowledge, interest and behavior towards energy efficiency comes from the 35-44 age group, and in gender distribution from men. In our previous study, the level of interest of women on this issue was higher than that of men. The attitudes and role models of both our mothers and fathers play a critical role in transferring energy efficiency to the next generations. As you know, our children learn mostly by observing, especially at an early age. Sometimes something that seems so simple to us can have a huge impact on a child’s mental world. That’s why we say that energy efficiency starts in the family. We want to remind our parents that they also have an important responsibility in this regard.”
Dönmez stated that energy efficiency should be made a part of social culture and said, “The Energy Efficiency Awareness Index was measured as 154.2 points in industrial enterprises, 146.7 points in the service sector and 169.5 points in the transportation and agriculture sector. In the Energy Efficiency Implementation Index, the score of the industrial enterprises was 131.7, the score of the service sector was 115.9, and the score of the transportation and agriculture sector was 158.2. Our sectors with the highest awareness and application level in energy efficiency were agriculture and transportation.” used the expressions.
Pointing out that the payback period of energy efficiency costs to enterprises is 4.6 years for the industry, Dönmez said, “The payback period is 5.5 years for the service sector and 6.7 years for our other sectors. In other words, after an average of 4.8 years, our businesses can write their energy efficiency practices as a profit.” made its assessment.