Energy Consumption Patterns Not Sustainable

Iran can save up to $20 billion a year by reining in energy consumption, said Yadollah Sabouhi, head of special department for optimizing energy consumption at the vice presidency for science and technology.

"Despite the isolation and stagnation that was inflicted on the economy and the ensuing decline in electricity consumption, overall energy consumption has increased in the past few years," Sabouhi was quoted as saying by IRNA.

"We need $70 billion in new investments to reduce annual energy consumption by $20 billion," said the official, underlining the need to promote energy efficiency programs.

Western countries, he recalled, made significant inroads in curbing energy use and improving their consumption practices after facing an energy crisis in the 1970s that resulted from an Arab oil embargo against the United States.

The special body was formed in 2013 to help correct the excessive and unsustainable pattern of energy consumption in Iran by 2025 -- end of its 20-Year Vision Plan -- under which Iran should become a developed country with the first economic, scientific and technical status in the region.

According to published reports, Iran's power consumption is almost three times the global average. Electricity consumption in Iran is nearly five times the amount in Turkey, according to a report by the Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Company last year.