En-eff vs En-con

We know that along with energy conservation, energy efficiency is probably the most important component of getting a handle on humanity's growing energy use and the environmental damage that currently entails.

A new study from the University of Cambridge really lays it bare again. Julian Allwood's team found that 73% of global energy use could be saved through energy efficiency improvements.

Some of these are easy and possible today, such as in the building sector, while some of the more radical energy efficiency improvements in vehicle design require bigger changes.

Fine. But one wonders how the extrapolation was done from the developed world to the developing world where industrialisation is not of the same degree yet. Time and again experts have maintained that in the developing world, energy efficiency must be improved but the gains are not of the same kind as in the developed world. Should we be focussing on efficiency or conservation?