Independent Evaluation Group2012-03-192012-03-192010978-0-8213-8450-3https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2480This evaluation assesses the performance of International Finance Corporations (IFC's) energy efficiency finance program in China aimed at stimulating energy efficiency investments through bank guarantees and technical assistance. The program's significance is underpinned by the fact that China's size, rapid economic growth, and inefficiencies in energy use make it one of the world's largest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2.). The utilization of IFC's program has been rapid compared with other similar programs. The difference made by the program is traced along the chain of interventions: (i) at the level of banks, the program is narrowly based on one of the two partner banks, which, with the help of the program, expanded its energy efficiency lending as a new business line; (ii) at the level of energy management companies, the program's technical assistance improved the program participants' access to finance; and (iii) at the end-user level, it promoted the use of energy efficiency investments that achieved reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The evaluation recommends areas of improvement to realize greater impact. First, the program needs to emphasize areas where the potential additionality is high, such as small enterprises. Second, the program needs to concentrate more on activities that have the potential to reduce emissions significantly, such as energy efficiency for buildings. Third, the program's subsidy elements need to be reoriented to the areas of market failure, with IFC increasing its coverage of first loss from its own resources.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO ENERGYACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCINGADMINISTRATIVE COSTSADVANCED TECHNOLOGIESADVISORY SERVICESAIRANNUAL EMISSIONSAPPROACHAVAILABILITYBALANCE SHEETBANK FINANCINGBANK LENDINGBANK LOANSBANKSBARRIERS TO ENERGY EFFICIENCYBASESBENEFIT STREAMSBIOMASSBORROWERCALCULATIONCALORIFIC VALUECAPACITY BUILDINGCARBONCARBON CONTENTCARBON DIOXIDECARBON EMISSIONCASH FLOWSCEMENTCEMENT PRODUCTIONCLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISMSCLEANER ENERGYCLIMATECLIMATE CHANGECLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATIONCLIMATE POLICYCOCO2COALCOAL COMBUSTIONCOAL CONSUMPTIONCOAL ENERGYCOAL PRODUCTIONCOGENERATIONCOLLATERALCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOLORSCOMMERCIAL BANKSCOMMERCIAL ENERGYCOMMERCIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCYCOST BENEFIT ANALYSISCREDIT DECISIONSCREDIT LINECREDIT RISKDEMAND CURVEDEMAND FOR COALDEMAND FOR ENERGYDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCEDISCOUNT RATESDOWN MARKETDOWN PAYMENTSECONOMIC BENEFITSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC IMPACTSEFFICIENCY GAINSEFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTEFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTSEFFICIENCY POTENTIALELECTRICITYELIGIBILITY CRITERIAEMISSIONEMISSION INTENSITYEMISSION REDUCTIONEMISSION REDUCTION TARGETSEMISSION REDUCTIONSEMISSIONSEMISSIONS INTENSITYENERGY BALANCEENERGY CONSERVATIONENERGY CONSUMERSENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY COST SAVINGSENERGY DEMANDENERGY EFFICIENCYENERGY EFFICIENCY FINANCEENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTSENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENTSENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURESENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMSENERGY GENERATIONENERGY INDUSTRIESENERGY INPUTENERGY INTENSITYENERGY MANAGEMENTENERGY POLICYENERGY PRICESENERGY PRICINGENERGY SAVINGSENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCEENERGY SOURCESENERGY SUPPLYENERGY USAGEENERGY USEENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYEXPLOSIVEFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL INCENTIVESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INSTRUMENTSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIESFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARYFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL RETURNFIXED ASSETFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOSSILFOSSIL FUELFOSSIL FUEL USEFOSSIL FUELSFUELFUEL USEFUNDING SOURCESGAS DISTRIBUTIONGAS UTILITIESGAS UTILITYGHGGHGSGLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGEGLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITYGLOBAL WARMINGGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGOVERNMENT POLICIESGOVERNMENT POLICYGREATER ACCESSGREENHOUSEGREENHOUSE GASGREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONGREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGUARANTEE AGENCYHEATHEAT RECOVERYHEATING SYSTEMSHYDROPOWERIMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCYINDUSTRIAL BOILERINDUSTRIAL WASTEINFORMATION GAPINSURANCEINSURANCE PRODUCTSINTEREST RATEINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIESINVESTMENTS IN ENERGYINVESTMENTS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCYIPCCKEY CHALLENGELACK OF AWARENESSLACK OF CREDITLENDING PORTFOLIOLIMITED ACCESSLIMITED ACCESS TO FINANCELOANLOAN AMOUNTLOAN GUARANTEELOAN GUARANTEESLOAN PORTFOLIOLOAN PRODUCTSLOAN REPAYMENTSLOAN SIZEMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET FAILUREMARKET FAILURESMETHANENATURAL GASNEW BUSINESSNITROGENNITROGEN OXIDENITROUS OXIDEOILOUTREACHPARTICULATEPARTICULATE MATTERPARTNER BANKSPETROLEUMPETROLEUM USEPOLICY ENVIRONMENTSPOLICY MAKERSPOLLUTIONPORTFOLIOPOWERPOWER GENERATIONPOWER PLANTSPROMOTING ENERGY EFFICIENCYRADIATIONRATES OF RETURNREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRENEWABLE ENERGIESRENEWABLE ENERGYRENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRIESRENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCESRENEWABLE SOURCESRESIDENTIAL HOUSINGRETROFITTINGRISK AVERSIONSMALL ENTERPRISESSOURCE OF ENERGYSPILLOVER EFFECTSSULFURSUPPLY CURVESUSTAINABLE ENERGYTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETONS OF COAL EQUIVALENTTRANSACTION COSTSUNIONWINDWIND FARMSWIND SYSTEMSWorld Bank10.1596/978-0-8213-8450-3