ENERGY
WHY INVESTMENT IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY SHOULD BE A PUBLIC SECTOR PRIORITY
THE POWER OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY Energy efficiency has long been the poor cousin of low carbon energy generation. Voltage optimisers and insulation don’t grab headlines in the same way as new nuclear power stations and wind farms. But the Government’s energy efficiency strategy has identified that cost-effective investments have the potential to save energy and carbon equivalent to the output of 22 power stations in the UK. Energy efficiency investment on this scale has the potential to take much of the sting out of rising UK energy prices, as well as to help address a very real energy security threat. For example, one recent pipeline supply disruption between the UK and Belgium temporarily caused a 50 per cent spike in the price of gas that itself prompted social and political alarm.
But even though everyone who consumes energy has a part to play, expectations are highest for the public sector. In a survey by the Carbon Trust last year of Guardian Sustainable Business readers more than seven out of ten respondents felt that the public sector should be leading the way by cutting energy used in its own estates and operations. many organisations in the public sector have been quietly cutting their energy use for some time. In fact if you look at the annual league tables produced as part of the government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, the public sector is performing better than the private sector on nearly every metric, with manchester city council the top local authority for 2011/12. But from our work with thousands of public bodies, at the Carbon Trust we know that there is an even larger pipeline of cost effective carbon savings (projects that save more money than they cost) that could be achieved in public bodies, if only there was a bit more support and finance available.
THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY Since 2001 the Carbon Trust has worked with over 3,000 public sector organisations to identify total cost savings of over £2.5 billion, and whilst a promising start has been made we know that further support is needed to ensure the successful implementation of these projects. There is now a need to do more
22
Tim Pryce, Head of Public Sector, the Carbon Trust
than simply ensuring that equipment is shut off when not in use (vital though this is). It is time to for the public sector to seriously invest in energy efficiency measures that will help to cut energy bills, reduce the risk of energy price rises, ensure security of supply, and contribute to UK carbon targets.
As well as contributing to energy
security, investing in energy efficiency brings other social and economic benefits. Energy efficiency jobs can be created anywhere that there are buildings. On top of this, energy efficiency sales totalled £17.6 billion in 2011, generating economic activity as well as reducing future energy costs. Public bodies are also well placed to lead wider action at the local level, driving further savings in school, households and local businesses. In our experience a typical public sector organisation identifies the potential to save around a quarter from its energy bills when developing a carbon management plan. Given that most large public bodies spend over £1 million per year on energy, the impact could be huge – an extra £250,000 towards frontline services, per organisation, every year. For example Oxford City Council identified 25 per cent savings in their carbon management plan and achieved this target within just three years. A pilot programme with Solihull schools showed an average 24 per cent saving on energy bills, that when rolled out to across the council’s entire schools estate would equate to an annual saving of almost £650,000. And Aberdeen City Council, after putting in place a carbon management plan, managed to far exceed their own targets - achieving a 31% reduction in emissions in only two years through building and street lighting improvements.
THE BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION If the case for energy efficiency is so obvious, why isn’t everyone doing it already? The very concept of energy efficiency can be off-putting to some
Public sector sustainability • Volume 3 issue 9
people. One reason is that investing in savings rather than services can be a difficult decision – insulated pipes and boiler maintenance will not impress as much as shiny new infrastructure. Knowledge and experience is needed to construct compelling financial business cases to show that an investment will deliver savings. Energy efficiency investments are of course competing with other projects for funds, and the business case for those investments needs to be crystal clear. It is also important to be able to prioritise the projects that make the largest savings, something a lot of organisations get wrong.
And the business case is not solely
financial. People don’t just put in loft lagging because it will pay for itself quickly through energy savings – they do it also because it makes their homes warmer. Similarly public bodies should be focusing on the social as well as the financial benefits in their decision making – such as addressing fuel poverty, mitigating climate change or improving the learning environments in schools. The Carbon Trust has been helping the public sector reduce energy and emissions for eleven years, helping to develop costed and prioritised plans for cutting carbon, alongside newer initiatives on behaviour change and decentralised energy. This will certainly help engage public sector bodies to continue to address their energy use, but there is more we could all do to push energy efficiency into the limelight. Efficiency is never going to be as glamorous as big centralised generation projects – it’s difficult to get excited about switching a light off. But that is the paradox – it plays second fiddle to generation projects precisely because it’s smaller, faster, and less expensive. And that’s exactly why we should all be doing it.
www.carbontrust.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32