EP100: Businesses deliver £150m in energy savings through improved productivity

Companies that have committed to increasing energy productivity have collectively avoided one billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), while also delivering £150m ($200m) in energy cost savings.

The Climate Group’s EP100 initiative is a global scheme aimed at uniting corporates in a collective drive to increase energy productivity (i.e. achieving a higher economic output per unit of energy consumed).

Under EP100, companies are required to either double their energy productivity, make their buildings net-zero carbon or implement an energy management system, based on which of these actions is most relevant to their business model.

The Climate Group had analysed 33 EP100 companies, including Swiss Re, Thai Union Group and Yanbu Cement, analysing how they are digitising and improving energy usage in factories and offices.

The latest update found that the 33 companies have avoided one billion metric tons of CO2e to date – more than three times the annual emissions of the UK.

In addition, 22 members that were able to showcase savings have seen energy costs fall by $200m collectively. This is well up from previous research from the Climate Group, which stated that businesses signed up to its EP100 initiative had collectively shaved $55m (£45m) off their energy costs by implementing better efficiency measures. A 52% increase in cumulative CO2e savings has also been recorded compared to the last update.

“Energy efficiency has been vital to the economy ever since the oil crisis of the 1970s,” the Climate Group’s chief executive Helen Clarkson said. “But as we face today’s climate challenge some 50 years later, we’re failing to act fast enough – as well as racking up greenhouse gas emissions, we’re missing out on clean growth opportunities and jobs.

“Leading companies are showing that we can turn all that around. By moving quickly to stop energy waste, they are cutting carbon and boosting the bottom line. Now, to help drive the green recovery, we need businesses everywhere to do the same and governments to further incentivise them to do so.”

There are currently 105 members of the EP100 initiative, including those that have committed to owning or occupying net-zero carbon buildings by 2030 under a separate initiative from the World Green Building Council.

The findings from the Climate Group suggest that, on average, companies are 60% of the way to their EP100 goals. Businesses are also improving energy productivity by more than 6% annually, which is twice the required pace recommended by the United Nations.

The companies have saved 5,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy to date, which is more than what is consumed annually in the US. In fact, 360 million tonnes of CO2e was avoided in the last year alone – equivalent to taking 77 million cars off the roads for a year.

Matt Mace