Berlin (gtai) - Germany has knocked the UK off the top spot to take first place in the 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) revealed today. The only report of its kind identifies best practices across 31 key metrics in the world's largest economies. China tied with France for fourth place, the UK and Japan tied for sixth, and the USA came thirteenth.

The study praised Germany's comprehensive energy strategy and awarded the country maximum points for its building codes, retrofit policies, and tax credit and loan programs.

"Germany's commitment to creating a framework that encourages investment in energy efficiency has made it a world-leading market in the field," says Henning Ellermann, energy efficiency industry expert at Germany Trade & Invest.

For example, Germany's state development bank's building renovation loan program stimulated private investments of over EUR 34 billion (USD 46 billion) in 2013, government figures show. Germany also offers SMEs subsidies of up to 30% for improvements to the efficiency of their manufacturing processes made by upgrading technology and equipment

The ACEEE report lauded Germany's target of a 20% reduction in primary energy consumption by 2020 and 50% by 2050, compared to 2008 levels, and awarded the country first place for energy efficiency in the industrial sector.

"We are doing well but there are still a lot of untapped business opportunities in the German energy efficiency sector that make great economic sense even without subsidies," says Ellermann, who assists companies looking to establish a presence in Germany.

The report comes just days after Fraunhofer ISE reported that Germany produced around 31 percent of its electricity from renewables in the first half of 2014.