Corporate energy efficiency strategies

Some big players set an example

If there is any measure for mitigating climate change and ensuring energy security that enjoys a corporate consensus, it is energy efficiency. Since it is both the cheapest and the fastest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it obviously should get number one priority. Yet there is the nagging impression that this fact is still having too little influence on actual daily energy practices. That impression may soon be changing.

Several leading companies in the electricity manufacturing and service sector have made energy efficiency a top priority. Siemens, Schneider Electric, and ABB each published a dedicated energy efficiency report:

• Siemens: ‘Energy Efficiency — Achieving More with Less/Creating sustainable societies’
• Schneider Electric: ‘How much is inefficiency costing you?/Creating a climate for change’
• ABB: ‘Energy Efficiency — The other alternative fuel’

Publishing such reports is, of course, no guarantee that these ideas are being fully integrated into everyday practice. But at least the reports show that these companies have made the strategic decision to give energy efficiency a higher profile and to ‘sell’ it to their customers. Given the weight of these companies on the market, that just might be enough to create the momentum that is needed for a sea change in the energy efficiency mentality.