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Efficiency measures could cut UK manufacturing energy costs by a third

A new £15 million initiative from the Carbon Trust aims to cut the energy costs of the UK’s manufacturing sector by up to a third.

Over the next four years, the Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) aims to work with trade bodies and businesses from around 25 manufacturing sectors that use moderate amounts of energy.

These sectors are not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, but will be affected by climate change agreements or the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which comes into force next year.

The UK’s largest manufacturing sector is the food and drink industry, which taken with other industries accounts for a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions.

The Carbon Trust will offer up to £250,000 in match funding to partners in each sector to research, develop and demonstrate lower-carbon manufacturing processes.

The IEEA programme will first undertake an analysis of typical energy use within an industry, before identifying opportunities for reduction.

The Carbon Trust will then work with partners to develop specific processes and technologies that could be rolled out across the industry. Information about the energy-saving processes will then be disseminated across the industry sector and the Carbon Trust will work to promote their adoption.

The first companies to work with the Carbon Trust on a pilot phase of the scheme demonstrated that average savings of 28% on energy bills can be achieved, along with major emission reductions.

“By rethinking the way manufacturers operate from the ground up we plan to spearhead a low carbon industrial revolution that will not only reduce emissions but will also increase demand for innovation, generate jobs and cut costs,” says the Carbon Trust’s director of innovations, Mark Williamson.

Britvic, Highland Spring and armac were among the first companies to sign up to the IEEA, and have been joined by the Food and Drink Federation and retailer Tesco.

“We need precisely this sort of collaboration on carbon and cost savings in manufacturing if we are to achieve the low-carbon economy we need,” says David North of Tesco.

The Carbon Trust is now inviting companies to get involved in the scheme.

For further information:
www.carbontrust.co.uk/technology/technologyaccelerator/IEEA.htm

03 November 2009

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