Energy Efficiency - History Of Energy Concerns, Energy Efficiency In Buildings, Transportation, Energy Efficiency In Industry, Other Techniques For Increasing Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency refers to any process by which the amount of useful energy obtained from some process is increased compared to the amount of energy put into that process. As a simple example, some automobiles can travel 40 mi (17 km) by burning a single gallon (liter) of gasoline, while others can travel only 20 mpg (8.5 km/l). The energy efficiency achieved by the first car is twice that achieved by the second car. In general, energy efficiency is measured in units such as mpg, lumens per watt, or some similar "output per input" unit.