Later this month (22-24 May) sees the National Energy Management Exhibition (NEMEX) as past of Sustainability Live. On Tuesday 22 May,  I will be chairing the seminar session on energy procurement and then going on to speak on “Entrepreneurial Energy Management” which has been placed in the Energy Management Standards session, chaired by Prof Martin Fry. This is going to prove interesting as part of my proposition is that energy management is more than compliance and box ticking!

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27 April 2012, Thoughts on Travelling

Next weekend I will be setting off to work at a factory in the Philippines for week. Preparation includes the usual travel documents, health risk assessment, vaccination – but also some time looking at the energy markets and activity in another country. Over the past 25 years I have worked in a number of different countries, but this will be my first trip to the far east. What I have learned from all of these working visits is that we don’t know it all in the UK! It is really valuable to see how others view energy issues and not automatically assume that because it is not the way we do it it is wrong!

On my return I will share with you the lessons I learn!

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

7 February 2012, Tesco to drop carbon labels

The announcement by Tesco that they find product carbon labelling “too time-consuming and costly” is being seen by some as Tesco backtracking on its carbon commitment. However, careful reading suggests it is the carbon labelling process that is the problem, not Tesco’s commitment to carbon reduction.

I have long held doubts about carbon labelling of products for a number of reasons:

In part I feel we already give the consumer far too much information anyway on a product label – so much so that most people who have eat a pack of carbon labelled crisps have not a clue that the product was carbon labelled. Test this out; actually read all the labels on the next food product you eat!

Next: The lack of comparative data – I know a pack of crisps is around 80gms of CO2, but what does that mean compared to other foods? Tesco’s had hoped to see a far wider uptake with the carbon label providing an edge for products. In practice the market penetration has been insignificant.

Next: The problem of the scope of the carbon label and critically the accuracy of the data leading to that label. As a practitioner in the field this gives me a major cause for concern. Even restricting to scope 1 & 2 emissions the potential for error I have seen is significant.

Next: The need to update the data label – ideally each label should have a date and bee reviewed on a regular basis to reflect changes in process.

Finally, addressing all of these issues is likely to be “too time-consuming and costly” and for any commercial organisation that means they have to question if it is money well spent.

In retail it is more about the dialogue with the customer, they want to trust the brand and be confident that they are buying a ‘good’ product that is value for money (VFM). Tesco’s verdict is that product carbon labels are not VFM. It will be really interesting to see what Tesco do next.

For those interested in retailing and green products the new report from Asda ‘Green is Normal’ makes interesting reading. http://your.asda.com/sustainability

November 21, Wind Farms and the Duke of Edinburgh

Wind farms are ‘absolutely useless and a disgrace’ says the Duke of Edinburgh and many would agree with him. For some time wind has been a ‘Marmite issue’ with people either loving it or hating it. My view is that our energy future will have a wind component, but that it will need to be a blend of technologies led by energy efficiency and energy conservation.  From a pure business perspective wind power is being ‘driven’  by incentives and these incentives are a result of UK and EU policy – is the policy right – a big question! Wind is free and renewable, but we need to look at the whole picture. The energy density and delivery of wind does not match that of conventional power plants. On a MW for MW basis a wind farm uses more steel and concrete than a nuclear power station. As society progresses it becomes more rather than less energy dependent. A concern that I have is the increasing number of ’single issue’ approaches to our energy future. We have pressure groups for and against wind, groups for and against transmission lines. The truth is that for a variety of reasons we need to address a sustainable energy future – but this will not be with one single technology, and if the day comes when the lights go out many will change their view!

November 18, Survey predicts a rise of 40% in electricity prices in 10 years

Smartest Energy reports that a survey of leading industry figures expects a rise of at least 40% in wholesale electricity prices by 2021. This is the result of the Power Predictor Survey carried out amongst independent generator, energy buyers and brokers. More than one third believed prices would be between £70-£79.99 MWh. 29% predicted prices of at least £80/MWh. Only 8.4% believed that prices would be the same on lower than today. For comparison the average over the past year was £49/MWh. The bottom line? It pays to reduce the amount of energy use whatever the price, but perhaps some longer payback projects may be more worthwhile?

November 11, Health Safety & Sustainability HSE & QPANI

This was an event with a difference! Located in a working quarry (Glenwherry, Co Antrim)  in an un-heated marquee and production building, seven presentations run by a range of specialists. I delivered (on behalf of the Carbon Trust) the set on sustainability and carbon benchmarking.  The same presentation repeated seven times! The outcome was presenting the key aspects of benchmarking to around 90 people from a range of companies. A key aspect was to expose the delegates to the pilot benchmarking study for quarries in NI and see if there is the appetite to move to the next stage. Time will tell.

November 8, CRC League Table published

At one time the placing of an organisation in the CRC league table would have had an immediate financial impact – but since the recycling element was removed the table is all about reputation. The first observation is that as expected position in the table is related to the early action metrics – certification and metering. Much will be made of those at the top and bottom of the table. Keen eyes will look at the rest of the table and draw judgement based on very limited data. Suppliers will target the lower placed organisations. Some will refer to the league table as a ‘green league table’ – but in practice it is not green. Not that I want to take anything from those that have done well. For those that are at the bottom of the table perhaps they should revisit the basics of energy management? In the longer term having taken early action will mean less and real energy/carbon savings will kick in as the key driver for the league. At that time it will be interesting to see where the guys at the top come, and if the guys at the bottom stay there.

November 7, 2011 EnergyMentor starts to Tweet!

I have decided to embrace social networking and start Tweeting. For sometime I did not see the point, but like a lot of things if you open your mind you see more! The tweets will focus on energy and carbon management with other items that I think might be of interest or value. I have taken the Twitter name of EnergyMentor as I feel it really fits with what JPC does as a business.

June 15, 2011 ISO50001 published

Unusually for an ISO this one has been published ahead of schedule – it was expected in the later part of 2011.

The good news is that we now have a global set of guidelines for energy management systems (EnMS – as in ISO50001). Is this all you need to manage energy? NO! Like any other ISO based management system 50001 will be good at locking best practice in place – but the best practice needs to be there in the first place.

Our current advice is that if you already have ISO based systems and think you are good at energy management, then consider becoming certified to 50001. However, if you are not familiar with ISO based systems 50001 may not be for you.