How much energy saving is one per cent per year?

A standardised definition is lacking

Last year, the EU approved the 'Directive on Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services'. It includes the target of 9% additional energy savings within the coming nine years, or 1% a year. But what does this target really mean? The problem is that there is no clear, widely accepted definition of '1% energy saving per year'. What is the reference base? What is 0% and what is 100%?

Expressing the efficiency improvement that is accomplished by replacing one electric motor with a more efficient one is a fairly straightforward process, but calculating the real effect of energy efficiency stimulation policies and incorporating all free rider, multiplier, and rebound effects is a completely different story, and it becomes even more complicated when looking several years ahead. For example, will you take the same reference base for 2008 as for 2016?

In November 2006, the EU initiated a project to solve this definition problem: 'Evaluation and Monitoring for the EU Directive on Energy End-Use and Energy Services (EMEEES)'. Hopefully, it will be ready by the first of January 2008, when the Directive timeline starts running, and hopefully, their solution will be pragmatic enough to minimize the administrative burden and the cost of monitoring.

Reference

The ECEEE 2007 Summer Study 'How much energy saving is 1% per year?'