Energy Efficiency Alone Could Cut National Emissions by 5%
Industry group the Energy Efficiency Council says a 15% efficiency gain by the biggest companies would cut national emissions by nearly 5% and save business billions in energy costs. And there’s one company – Ecosave – already working with some of the countries’ largest commercial, retail and industrial businesses (and government departments) to do just that – save money and reduce energy use.
Adam Morton in The Age (8 March 2010):
Claims that even small greenhouse gas targets will hurt big industry have been undermined by a government report that found basic efficiency improvements could cut national emissions while saving businesses more than $700 million.
An assessment of 199 large energy users found boosting efficiency could save at least 6.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – equivalent to a 1.1 per cent cut in the annual national carbon footprint.
The energy savings could run 1.4 million homes for a year and give the companies an extra $736 million.
Industry group the Energy Efficiency Council said it suggested a 15 per cent efficiency gain by the biggest companies would cut national emissions by nearly 5 per cent and save billions in energy costs.
”Economic purists have been telling us that if there were $100 notes lying around, industry would have already picked them up,” council chief executive Rob Murray-Leach said.
”This report shows that companies have blind spots – sometimes you have to help them find the $100 notes.”
Though often overlooked in the policy debate, energy efficiency is widely understood to be the easiest and cheapest way to make quick emissions cuts.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency estimates 65 per cent of the global emissions cut achieved by 2020 will be through efficiency upgrades.
Mr Murray-Leach, a former adviser to climate economist Ross Garnaut, said energy efficiency should be viewed in the same way as other business investments: you need to spend up-front to generate a return.
”Some people say that tackling climate change is too expensive, we should wait to see what the world does first,” he said. ”This report shows that there is a huge amount we could do right now to cut our emissions and grow our economy.”
The government’s First Opportunities report is the result of a 2006 program introduced by the Howard government that requires companies that use more than 0.5 petajoules of energy a year to find, but not necessarily implement, potential savings. The report said businesses had shown they were willing to implement the savings because of the commercial benefits.
It is an initial insight only: the report looks at 57 per cent of operations where energy savings may be possible. The biggest savings were found to be possible in large energy-using industries – metals, manufacturing and mining.
Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the report showed Australia’s largest energy users had already made changes that would save them more than $500 million a year.
The report found existing commitments by businesses would cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 4 million tonnes. As companies were still assessing their energy use, more savings would be identified.
Source: www.theage.com.au
5 March, 2010
Big buildings, big savings, small footprint
Ecosave work with commercial, retail and industrial businesses and government departments to save money, by reducing energy and water consumption in commercial and industrial buildings through a range of simple measures.
Ecosave offer free site assessments to potential customers and an obligation free proposal detailing the energy and water conservation projects that meet the client’s financial criteria and the expected savings and costs.
Once a proposal is approved, Ecosave manage all aspects of the installation process to provide the client with energy and/or water savings with no interruption to the client’s operations.
Established in 2002, Ecosave has expanded to become the fastest growing energy and water conservation company in Australia, by helping building managers in metropolitan and regional areas to achieve tangible energy efficiency one branch at a time.
With a focus on building controls, lighting and air conditioning energy conservation, as well as all aspects of water conservation, Ecosave recognise that many small building improvements can result in substantial savings.
Today, Ecosave is active in metropolitan and rural areas of Australia and New Zealand. They have already provided energy and water conservation solutions to over 250 organisations in commercial, retail and industrial companies, as well as every level of government.
Some of these include:
o National Australia Bank
o Origin Energy
o Charles Sturt University
o Amcor
o Telstra
o Stockland
o TAFE
o Westpac
o IAG
o ING
o Area Health Services
o Many local government areas
Unlike many of their competitors, who have suffered losses of up to 50 per cent, Ecosave’s end of financial year growth figures showed a 36 per cent increase in revenue.
In the last five months alone Ecosave have opened offices in Melbourne and Brisbane and are preparing to establish a presence in the United States.Ecosave continue to assist the National Australia Bank, to improve the Carbon Neutrality of hundreds of their sites across Australia.
The recently established partnership with Origin Energy will see Ecosave undertake energy efficiency projects for Origin’s commercial and industrial clients.
These projects will be financed through an additional monthly payment, which will be applied to the customer’s electricity bill for a fixed period of between 36 to 60 months. Ecosave secured substantial Federal Government funding for projects undertaken for Stockland and AMP, with 50 per cent of the project costs covered by grants.
Most recently, Ecosave secured funding through the NSW State Government’s Public Facilities Fund for an energy and water efficiency project that will be conducted at Charles Sturt University.
Ecosave are a sponsor of the 2010 CFO Summit, a meeting of Australia and New Zealand’s top financial executives across all major industry sectors.
o Ecosave leads industry in sustainable business practices, among other things;
‐ Our premises are run by 100% green energy
‐ Our vehicles are in the Green‐fleet programme
‐ Waste removed from our installations is recycled and/or re‐used whenever possible
‐ We select the most environmentally friendly products available to include in our installations
‐ All our stationary is printed on recycled paper and both sides of pages used
‐ All our office paper waste is recycled.
o Ecosave donates a tree for every tonne of green house gas emission or 100 kilolitres of water saved through the project. It is our contribution to helping the environment.
o Additionally, Ecosave donates 5% of its profits to environmental and humanitarian charities.
Source: www.ecosave.com.au