Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs

The energy efficiency gap is known as the difference between optimal level of energy efficiency and the actual level of achieved energy efficiency. Energy management has proven to further close the energy efficiency gap. Energy management may differ depending on whether it concerns a large, energy-i...

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Autores principales:	Noor Jalo, Ida Johansson, Mariana Andrei, Therese Nehler, Patrik Thollander
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	energy management energy efficiency barriers drivers industry SMEs Technology T
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/99eb3016179d452b9cee1f640ac69360
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:99eb3016179d452b9cee1f640ac693602021-11-11T15:45:25ZBarriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs10.3390/en142169251996-1073https://doaj.org/article/99eb3016179d452b9cee1f640ac693602021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/6925https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073The energy efficiency gap is known as the difference between optimal level of energy efficiency and the actual level of achieved energy efficiency. Energy management has proven to further close the energy efficiency gap. Energy management may differ depending on whether it concerns a large, energy-intensive company or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are of high interest since they form a large share of the economy today. For SMEs, a lighter form of energy management, in the form of energy efficiency network participation, has proven to deliver sound energy efficiency impact, while for larger, energy-intensive firms, a certified energy management system may be more suitable. However, various barriers inhibit adoption of energy efficiency measures. While there is an array of research on barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in general, research on barriers to, and driving forces for, energy management is rare, one exception being a study of energy-intensive pulp and paper mills. This holds even more so for industrial SMEs. This paper aims to identify the barriers to, and drivers for, energy management in manufacturing SMEs. Results of this explorative study show that the top four barriers to energy management are lack of time/other priorities, non-energy-related working tasks are prioritized higher, slim organization, and lack of internal expert competences, i.e., mainly organizational barriers. The top four drivers for energy management are to reduce production waste, participation in energy efficiency networks, cost reduction from lower energy use, and commitment from top management. Furthermore, results show that energy management among the studied SMEs seems to not be as mature, even though the companies participated in an energy management capacity building program in the form of energy efficiency networks, which, in turn, shows a still largely untapped potential in the societal aim to reduce the energy efficiency and management gaps. The main contribution of this paper is a first novel attempt to explore barriers to, and drivers for, energy management among SMEs.Noor JaloIda JohanssonMariana AndreiTherese NehlerPatrik ThollanderMDPI AGarticleenergy managementenergy efficiencybarriersdriversindustrySMEsTechnologyTENEnergies, Vol 14, Iss 6925, p 6925 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	energy management energy efficiency barriers drivers industry SMEs Technology T
spellingShingle	energy management energy efficiency barriers drivers industry SMEs Technology T Noor Jalo Ida Johansson Mariana Andrei Therese Nehler Patrik Thollander Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
description	The energy efficiency gap is known as the difference between optimal level of energy efficiency and the actual level of achieved energy efficiency. Energy management has proven to further close the energy efficiency gap. Energy management may differ depending on whether it concerns a large, energy-intensive company or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are of high interest since they form a large share of the economy today. For SMEs, a lighter form of energy management, in the form of energy efficiency network participation, has proven to deliver sound energy efficiency impact, while for larger, energy-intensive firms, a certified energy management system may be more suitable. However, various barriers inhibit adoption of energy efficiency measures. While there is an array of research on barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in general, research on barriers to, and driving forces for, energy management is rare, one exception being a study of energy-intensive pulp and paper mills. This holds even more so for industrial SMEs. This paper aims to identify the barriers to, and drivers for, energy management in manufacturing SMEs. Results of this explorative study show that the top four barriers to energy management are lack of time/other priorities, non-energy-related working tasks are prioritized higher, slim organization, and lack of internal expert competences, i.e., mainly organizational barriers. The top four drivers for energy management are to reduce production waste, participation in energy efficiency networks, cost reduction from lower energy use, and commitment from top management. Furthermore, results show that energy management among the studied SMEs seems to not be as mature, even though the companies participated in an energy management capacity building program in the form of energy efficiency networks, which, in turn, shows a still largely untapped potential in the societal aim to reduce the energy efficiency and management gaps. The main contribution of this paper is a first novel attempt to explore barriers to, and drivers for, energy management among SMEs.
format	article
author	Noor Jalo Ida Johansson Mariana Andrei Therese Nehler Patrik Thollander
author_facet	Noor Jalo Ida Johansson Mariana Andrei Therese Nehler Patrik Thollander
author_sort	Noor Jalo
title	Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
title_short	Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
title_full	Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
title_fullStr	Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
title_full_unstemmed	Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs
title_sort	barriers to and drivers of energy management in swedish smes
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/99eb3016179d452b9cee1f640ac69360
work_keys_str_mv	AT noorjalo barrierstoanddriversofenergymanagementinswedishsmes AT idajohansson barrierstoanddriversofenergymanagementinswedishsmes AT marianaandrei barrierstoanddriversofenergymanagementinswedishsmes AT theresenehler barrierstoanddriversofenergymanagementinswedishsmes AT patrikthollander barrierstoanddriversofenergymanagementinswedishsmes
_version_	1718434102706700288

Barriers to and Drivers of Energy Management in Swedish SMEs

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