Lack of investment constitutes main barrier to improving energy efficiency

(11/03/2009)

GAMBICA is the Trade Association for Instrumentation, Control, Automation and Laboratory Technology in the UK. It has a membership of over 200 companies.

Following an invitation to the launch of the Government's Low Carbon Industrial Summit earlier this month, GAMBICA took advantage of an open session to highlight investment needs within industry. GAMBICA's Steve Brambley drew attention to one of the main barriers to improving energy efficiency which was that the required investment in technology was difficult to obtain. Even when payback was short and ongoing savings were attractive, the current economic climate was preventing industry from approving expenditure.

Responding to his question on Government's role in assisting industry to justify this investment, both Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson recognised the need for financial support to encourage the take-up of energy saving technology. This was one aspect of their focus on turning the challenge of climate change into an opportunity for growth through innovation in energy efficiency.

The GAMBICA position was further developed in subsequent panel discussions chaired by the
Chief Executive of the Government's Technology Strategy Board, Iain Gray. Here there was an opportunity to focus on electric motors, which consume around two-thirds of industrial energy use and the key potential role of variable speed drives. GAMBICA believes that at least 50% of motors in use today would benefit from control by a variable speed drive, typically saving 20 - 40% in energy, and the Association would like to see more encouragement from Government together with financial incentives to support this investment.

In a subsequent submission, GAMBICA also focused on the importance of considering the efficiency of the system rather than the efficiency of individual products in the system as the overall efficiency could be influenced by control systems and instrumentation. There was also a requirement for greater awareness and resources in controlling the energy bill of a company beyond the changing of energy suppliers.

Related categories:  Industrial   Legislation and regulation   Metering   Motor control   Speed drives