Largest Irish businesses save €60m in energy costs
News Article - 25 November 2009
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Many of Ireland’s largest employers were able to save €60m in energy costs in 2008 using innovative carbon-reduction solutions. The revelation was reported to the Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) conference last week, and includes many of the World’s biggest companies such as Tesco, Intel and Pfizer.
The achievement is seen by industry experts as significant considering the current economic climate. Businesses understandably take fewer financial risks during recession, and in the past there has been a perception that ‘green’ strategies are innately uneconomical. Any commitment to carbon-reduction was generally attributed to brand and image development. The revelation that successful carbon-reduction policies can yield significant financial benefits will therefore be a welcome one.
This ‘incentivisation’ of carbon-reduction has been heralded as the catalyst to increase uptake. But the revelation that green policies can be profitable does not change the logistical problems that have plagued their implementation. As a relatively new era of development, boardrooms are inevitably wary of investing time and money into strategies that have limited precedent.
Yet from 2010 large businesses will have to monitor and report energy usage under the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment. If their usage is deemed unacceptable, they may face fines. Therefore there is a significant need for all businesses to take steps towards a commitment to carbon-reduction, and overcome the initial development hurdles.
For businesses of all sizes, this may be about to get far easier. Ireland seems to be solidifying its status as a leader in energy management and Eamon Ryan, of the Irish Green Party, who presented the findings to the SEI conference, feels many of the multinationals that have seen profitability from green strategies will soon export their energy expertise. If this should occur, companies will gain access to the most cost-effective carbon-reduction programmes, backed by verifiable results.
This will no doubt encourage boardrooms to adopt greener policies. And with the potential for such rapid change in the green sector, businesses must keep ahead of the times if it is to ride the green wave and come out smiling. Small or medium-sized enterprises may not experience the same pressures as the largest corporations, but they will no doubt feel the strain. Many larger businesses look to the companies in their supply chain to cut carbon emissions, so the pressure may just be exerted from a different source.
Software for measuring and reporting carbon emissions will help businesses to streamline their ability to cope with change that will soon occur. Carbon output can be reported as simply and easily as any other financial transactions, without the need to alter existing workflows. This means that there is often little additional administration and the data can be analysed in ways that are meaningful to the company. The ability to define budgets by emission group (e.g. company vehicles) provides a powerful and comprehensive data stream that will improve the ability to make sound financial decisions with carbon-reduction in mind.
Access recently won the BASDA-sponsored Green Software Provider of the Year award for its functionality to measure and report carbon emissions. As the first business-led consultancy and software house to include carbon emissions reporting as standard in its software applications, Access have developed a long-standing commitment to be first to market with the solutions that keep businesses ahead of the competition.
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