The Energy Efficiency Investment Survey 2022, a global survey conducted by Sapio Research, offers a snapshot of the benefits industries are reaping from increased investment in energy efficiency measures.
The survey was carried out as part of the energy efficiency movement, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched by automation company ABB in 2021. It targeted 2,294 companies in 13 countries, ranging in size from 500 to 5,000 or more employees.
“Significant population and economic growth will accelerate climate change to a critical point if governments and industry don’t intensify their efforts. Growing urbanisation and rising geopolitical tension will also make energy security and sustainability even more critical,” said Tarak Mehta, president of ABB Motion.
Key findings
Fifty-four percent of the companies are already investing, while 40% plan to make improvements this year. Ninety percent will increase spending over the next five years, while 52% plan to achieve net zero within the same period.
The report also highlights areas of concern. Half of the respondents listed cost as the biggest barrier and 37% cited downtime. Also concerning is that only 41% of respondents felt they had all the information needed regarding improvement measures.
On average, 23% of respondents stated their annual operating costs are attributable to energy usage.
Nine of ten respondents indicated that rising energy costs are at least a minor threat to profitability, while 53% perceived it as a moderate or substantial threat.
Despite cost being a significant barrier to energy efficiency investment, cost savings were stated by 59% as the most important reason for investing.
The survey comes in the wake of a recent UN report calling for concerted action from countries to cut greenhouse emissions at a faster rate.
“Improving energy efficiency is an essential strategy to address these potential crises. Therefore, the acceleration in investment highlighted by this survey is positive news…The bottom line is that energy efficiency is good for business and good for the environment,” commented Mehta.
The companies surveyed include those from Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA.
The survey is available online.
