- Edmund Smith, Golder Associates Pty Ltd
With the economy starting to claw its way back, companies are facing the prospect of increasing energy costs. Impending legislation will further impact these (and other) operating costs through a mechanism like an Emissions Trading Scheme e.g. the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). It is expected that organisations that are unprepared will experience substantial negative impacts on their bottom line performance.
All companies would do well to get ahead of the curve and undertake the necessary assessments of their current performance and establish a structured plan to tackle these issues and reduce the associated cost to business.
Establishing a clear goal for improvement that is supported by defined action steps and engages staff in the solutions will provide the best opportunity. Backing these actions with the development of management practice improvements will ensure that the benefits achieved are secured for the long term, while linking any of these initiatives with other business goals helps encourage continued participation by all employees. The key steps that need to be implemented in order to define a company’s goal include:
* Establishing the organisation’s energy baseline and carbon inventory
* Reviewing the potential savings through energy supply optimisation
* Assessing the opportunities for improvements in energy end-use
* Defining the management approaches that drive sustainable performance
* Identifying the company goal and stretch targets
* Implementing the identified priority actions
* Using offsets to fill the gap between implemented actions and the committed goals.
BIO:
Ed Smith
* More than 23 years industrial experience with 19 years as an energy consultant, specialising in the development of sustainable improvements in energy performance and carbon mitigation.
* Developed and delivered strategic energy and greenhouse gas management programs across multiple countries and a wide range of industries, including mining and mineral processing, oil and gas, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, pulp and paper, automotive and general manufacturing.
* Established energy efficiency and carbon management training programs to support the development of site energy team personnel.
* Built and led multiple regional consulting teams.