Global industry invests in energy efficiency: survey

Photo credit: ABB

The global industry is accelerating investments in energy efficiency in the next five yearstowards Net Zero according to ABB’s Energy Efficiency Investment Survey 2022.

A key finding was 54 per cent of companies are already investing, while 40 per cent plan to make energy efficiency improvements this year. Ninety per cent will increase spending over the next five years while 52 per cent plan to achieve Net Zero within the same period.

“Significant population and economic growth will accelerate climate change to a critical point if governments and industry don’t intensify their efforts. Growing urbanization and rising geopolitical tension will also make energy security and sustainability even more critical,” said Tarak Mehta, President, ABB Motion. “Improving energy efficiency is an essential strategy to address these potential crises. Therefore, the acceleration in investment highlighted by this survey is positive news.”

Industrial motor-driven systems hold potential for energy efficiency measures. Almost two-thirds of the survey respondents are upgrading their equipment to best-in-class efficiency ratings, such as high-efficiency electric motors controlled by variable speed drives.

The report showed half of the respondents listed cost as the biggest barrier to improving energy efficiency and 37 per cent felt downtime was a barrier. While 41 per cent of respondents felt they had all the information needed regarding energy efficiency measures.

The survey conducted by Sapio Research targeted 2,294 companies in 13 countries, ranging in size from 500 to 5,000 employees. It outlines how industries across the world are planning to invest in energy efficiency measures to achieve Net Zero.