Abstract
Improved energy efficiency is one of the key elements to decouple energy-related emissions from economic growth. Since the energy management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises are underdeveloped, most of the energy efficiency potential is left untapped. Studies show that several barriers pertaining to economic, technological, and organizational systems lead to poor implementation rates of energy efficiency measures. An energy efficiency network is considered effective in overcoming these barriers and promoting energy management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper explores the role of energy efficiency networks, and specifically the role of its functions in overcoming the identified barriers from literature. This study was carried out as a multiple case study including 13 industrial small and medium-sized enterprises using semi-structured interviews with participants from companies in a Swedish regional energy efficiency network program. Results show that energy efficiency networks are effective in overcoming some of the barriers to energy efficiency implementation and that the present functions are effective in addressing some barriers faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, e.g., energy efficiency implementation barriers such as lack of time and resources. However, some barriers still remain as constraints for energy efficiency implementation, even after energy efficiency network participation.
Highlights
Energy efficiency (EE) improvement is one of the most important targets in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the aim to double the global rate of improvement in EE by 2030 [1]
Such studies are of utmost importance as industrial Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) often require some form of public support for overcoming barriers as they have limited resources and time [40]
The process evaluation under taken in this study showed that the energy audit was the most favorable function among Energy Efficiency Network (EEN) participants, followed by lectures on energy effi ciency, consultancy with energy experts, presentation of realized mea sures and network meetings for experience sharing
Summary
Energy efficiency (EE) improvement is one of the most important targets in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the aim to double the global rate of improvement in EE by 2030 [1]. The International Energy Agency suggests EE as the most important step towards energy security, environmental protection, and economic growth [2]. As mentioned by the UN Environment Program, the present rate of improvement is not enough to meet the two-degree target by 2050 as stated in the Paris Climate Agreement [3]. In Swe den, the country is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 [4]. One of the means to achieve such a goal is through EE. In Sweden, 36 % of all energy is used in industry [5], and 17 % of the total industrial energy was used by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) [6]
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