Hi Experts,

I got this incorrect. Please help me eliminate the wrong answers and find the correct answer.

Hi

the only two potenbtially available questions are D and E.
The reason why E is correct over D is that this is a "main point" question and not a "must be true". Therefore, while D is an accurate reponse as it uses facts stated in the stimulus, it doesn't summarize the main point of the stimulus, which is what E does. You can find more details and tips iin the PowerScore CR book.

Hi,

Can you please suggest why is C incorrect?

C is incorrect because
70% are small restaurants(use energy-efficient technology) and approx 80% or 8 billion amount spent is wasted
we dont know the proportions, small restaurants are wasting how much of 8 billion
70% may sound confusing but large number of small scale industires doesnot mean that they are wasting large proportion of energy or expenses.
remaining 30% of larger industries might be wasting 90% of 8 billion amount or 5%
hence we cannot compare their percentages because that will varry depending upon their proption

let us look at the data given.

$ 10 billion is spent on energy by the Restaurant Industry.
$ 8 billion is squandered by the use of inefficient equipment.
This does not mean that all of the remaining $2 billion is not squandered. It is quite possible that some amount of this is squandered by other means. (for example - not changing filters, not switching off equipment when not needed etc etc.)

70% are small businesses that are too poor to invest in energy-efficient technology.
this does not mean that the remaining 30% of restaurants can afford such technology. Some of these restaurants might be medium sized businesses that might not be able to afford energy-efficient technology.

A - incorrect. look at the reasoning above.
Also, "availability" does not necessarily mean that the remaining 30% of restaurants will use them.
What if the energy costs of the remaining 30% make up only 20% of the total energy costs. Then reduction cannot be 30%.

B - cannot be inferred. We do not have any information on the energy costs of other industries.

C - cannot be inferred.
For example - let us assume that a small restaurant spends 10$ on its energy expenses and that a large restaurant spends 100$. 80% of the costs are squandered because of using inefficient equipment.
Usage of energy efficient equipment removes these inefficiencies.
by using efficient equipment they reduce their energy costs to 2$ and 20$. In both cases, the percentage reduction in energy costs is the same - 80%.

D - cannot be inferred. Some of the $2 billion might be squandered on other things.

E - correct answer. note the word "potential".
such a replacement can potentially reduce the overall energy costs by 80%. (Any strategy that reduces the energy costs by more than 50% will be largest source of energy savings).