GREEN MATTERS
the energy 'penalty'. Since a proper energy efficiency policy needs to tackle the issue of the bigger users, the UK Government established the ESOS (Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme) to implement Article 8 (4 to 6) of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU). A company needs to comply with ESOS if the organisation has over 250 members of staff; or a turnover of over £44.1m or an annual balance sheet of over £37.9m; or is part of a larger organisation which falls into any of the above. Non-compliant companies face fines of up to £90,000.
Companies who fall within the scope of ESOS are required to undertake an energy audit conducted or overseen by an approved ESOS Lead Assessor. The pump manufacturing and repair industry reacted positively to this development by investing heavily in training qualified auditors and was fully ready to support the policy. However, there was opposition from some major industrial companies who saw this change to better, more reliable, and up-to-date technology in terms of increased cost, rather than as an opportunity for savings. As a result of their lobbying, they succeeded in getting agreement that organisations fully covered by ISO 50001, which is aimed at energy management, did not need to have a separate ESOS audit. Under UK law, ESOS or ISO 50001 audits must be conducted every four years. The first deadline was 5 December 2015, the second was 5 December 2019 and the next deadline will be 5 December 2023. In principle, the larger companies covered by this energy audit requirement should have been busy since 2015, upgrading their pumps to a green standard, as indicated by the audits. However, those who opted for ISO 50001 saw a convenient loophole since, unlike the ESOS audits, ISO 50001 (2012) did not require the audit recommendations to be enacted upon. Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the fate of the planet has been coming into increasing prominence. This is demonstrated by the UK Government’s commitment to its 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. It is also
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reflected in the updated version of ISO 50001 (2018). Within sections 9 and 10 of the 2018 version the standard now stipulates that energy savings identified must be achieved or certification will be withdrawn. This means that, finally, all companies covered by the legislation must have energy audits and that the audit recommendations should be carried out.
What action is needed? Perhaps it may seem that the problem is solved. The big industrial users of pumps have been given their marching orders and the government can concentrate on the new horizon industries in the 10-point plan, putting the potential savings just identified into the carbon bank. Unfortunately, there continues to be
strong resistance among some sectors to undertaking meaningful pump audits. Most probably, the debate doesn’t even reach the boardroom, and even where there is a solid investment case, nothing happens.
The remedies are two-fold. Market surveillance in the UK, despite the convenient assumption that we somehow have the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to following rules, is lamentably absent in this area. Even if a company is identified as being in breach of ESOS a penalty of £90,000 is not even a slap on the wrist for a big business.
Decisive action is needed to tighten enforcement. Introducing meaningful penalties, perhaps based on a proportion of company turnover, should be considered. In addition, there must be the political will to resist what is often misinformed pressure from big industry. On the other hand, while many of the cases for upgrading pumps will be clear-cut, financial assistance to encourage modernisation should also be examined.
Not all industries can be “new horizon”, so surely the 11th point in the UK Government’s plan must be to ensure that our existing sectors are shown the same attention and encouragement to reduce their energy consumption if we are to reach the net zero target; and pumps can play a significant role in this.
June 2021 29
Hydratech
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