The 2008 Brammer Energy Survey has discovered that a significant number of European manufacturing companies are failing to capitalise on the £10 billion of possible energy savings at their factories.
Of the 330 survey respondents, three quarters consider energy saving as an important issue for their company, but only 6 per cent think they have already taken advantage of all available savings.
Sixty per cent said they were in the planning or implementation stages of energy savings, but with few incorporating MPT (mechanical power transmission) purchases into these plans.
The results showed 78 per cent of senior managers are focusing on production process energy savings, but a massive 59 per cent are not likely to consider changes in motor use – despite the findings of Carbon Trust research, which identifies motors as accounting for 65 per cent of a typical plant’s energy consumption.
“Increasing energy savings has three outcomes: the reduced cost to the plant, the related increase in competitiveness of European manufacturing and, perhaps even more importantly for the long-term well-being of the plant, the reduced carbon emissions from fuel consumption,” said managing director of Brammer UK Ian Ritchie.
“With awareness of the impact of climate change ever increasing, manufacturers across Europe are coming under increasing pressure to meet green targets and cut energy consumption. Clearly key managers in manufacturing plants recognise their responsibility and believe they are working hard towards this, but our findings indicate that there is a great deal more that they could do that they may be overlooking.”
