British businesses could be saving up to £860 million on energy bills, according to new research. In the new report entitled ‘The Power of Carbon Psychology’, Npower Business Solutions and the Centre for Economics and Business Research say that by introducing behavioural changes, businesses could significantly reduce the money spent on energy bills.
Although a number of sectors were highlighted in the survey, it was found that the manufacturing sector could be saving nearly 11%, while the retail and wholesale sector could save 19% on energy bills.
Commenting on the report, Phil Griffiths, a Carbon Psychologist at npower Business Solutions, said:
“There is a huge opportunity for bigger businesses here – and they don’t even need to invest to make substantial savings. The benefits of behavioural change on the bottom line are clear. Energy efficiency improvements result in a more motivated workforce, a positive impact on the UK balance of payments and significant emissions reductions.”
Although the research was aimed at large companies, the report also established that small to medium enterprises stood to benefit from introducing simple changes. According to the report, the benefits include increased profits, improved cash flow and protection against energy price rises and volatility.
Improving energy efficiency in the commercial sector
The UK has made a determined effort to improve energy efficiency and while domestic energy use is reducing significantly, UK industry is lagging behind. The report found that efforts to lower industrial energy intensity in the UK were “fairly average”.
With the increase in energy bills, it is especially important for both domestic and commercial sector to make efficiency savings and the report’s authors feel that introducing behavioural changes in businesses such as using power more effectively could provide significant savings to the industrial sector.
The research also indicated that when businesses combined technical improvements along with behavioural changes, it was possible to achieve the greatest level of success when it came to achieving energy efficiencies.
Reducing Carbon Emissions
The government has stated that if the UK is to meet is going to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, then the commercial sector will have to play its part in improving energy efficiency.
A number of initiatives, including Climate Change Agreements, the Green Deal and the Electricity Demand Reduction Project are just some of the programmes that have been introduced by government to try and encourage businesses to lower their energy use.