Age
Tuesday 2/9/2008 Page: 3
BIG business has started taking steps to improve energy efficiency, with a survey showing that 20% have already gone beyond the minimum requirements set by government. The survey of 55 of Australia's biggest power users by energy consultancy Energetics has found that the Howard government's Energy Efficiency Opportunities scheme, introduced in 2006, is affecting the way business uses energy.
The scheme requires 220 of Australia's biggest energy users, which each uses more than 500 terajoules of energy a year, to identify energy savings assessments by 2011. When the preliminary assessments were filed just over two months ago, the survey found that 40% of respondents intended to do more than required under the scheme. Energetic founder Jon Jutsen said business had found three major barriers to cutting energy use.
"Basically the survey shows that business believes that it has a lack of skilled labour to meet the EEO requirements; that it needs a carbon price to see what the impact of a trading scheme will be on the business; and that it would like a financial or tax incentive to cut energy use," Mr Jutsen said. He said the program seemed to be succeeding already in altering behaviour.
"What we can take out of this survey is that business is acting and that this is prompting business to go above and beyond what is required because they have been able to find savings across the business," he said. "It is a really important initiative because the trading scheme won't have impact over the next three or four years and then the Government has indicated there will be a low carbon price so you are into mid-2011 before you see a significant impact from the emissions trading scheme."
Link www.energetics.com.au
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