The potential for energy savings from energy management in the EU – findings from a comprehensive assessment

Panel: 2. Energy efficiency policies – how do we get it right?

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Paul Waide, Waide Strategic Efficiency Ltd, United Kingdom
Hans de Keulenaer, European Copper Institute, Belgium

Abstract

Energy management is a structured process through which organisations seek to optimise their energy use and whose definition and practice is codified through standards such as EN ISO 50001. It is an essential tool to deliver systemic level savings in how energy using capital is chosen and deployed but also, and importantly, with respect to how that capital is actually operated and managed. Despite its importance to overcome some of the more intractable barriers to energy efficiency it has received relatively modest attention in EU policy portfolios.

This paper presents the key findings from a new (shortly to be completed) study that provides a comprehensive assessment of the potential for savings from broader and more effective adoption of energy management across the EU. Degrees of energy management practice and effectiveness are outlined and the barriers which energy management helps to overcome are discussed. Current levels of adoption of energy management in European organisations and the associated trends are assessed while the findings from a thorough analysis of the techno-economic savings potentials from the wider adoption of effective energy management in the EU’s building, industrial and SME sectors to 2035 are presented.

The paper concludes with an analysis of policies that could help to increase energy management adoption rates across the EU and positions them within the context of the existing EU policy portfolio for energy efficiency. This builds from an assessment of: factors that influence (encourage or inhibit) the adoption of effective energy management for each end-user sector and of the degree to which targeted policies can help to influence this. The analysis considers where these measures fit within the broader portfolio of EU energy efficiency policy instruments, such as the Energy Efficiency, Ecodesign and Energy Performance in Buildings Directives. In particular it examines gaps in the current portfolio with respect to systemic energy efficiency issues and how energy management policy options may address this. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations pertinent to the ongoing reviews of the major EU Directives.