German companies are making efforts to protect the climate according to the study. Around 75 percent of the CEOs surveyed indicated that they had made investments in climate protection over the past three years.
The most important steps taken by every other company involved the renovation of heating systems and installation of energy-efficient lighting. A good third of the companies had streamlined their production processes. The same number had insulated their buildings.
“Energy and climate protection have become firmly established in the German business community's agenda” said Heinz Rosenbaum, CEO at E.ON Energie Deutschland. “There's still significant room for improvement, however, in particular in the areas of power generation and storage.”
The study also found that increasing numbers of businesses are making use of their own small-scale power plants in order to further reduce their electricity and heating costs. The main focus is on co-generation plants, often in combination with photovoltaics, solar heating systems and small wind generators. Half of the CEOs at companies with revenues of over 50 million euros have an interest in this form of decentralised power generation. The larger the company, the greater the interest in having a power plant of its own.
Only one in four businesses was unable to identify or tap into any potential energy savings. The CEOs surveyed indicated the significant investments involved as the primary reason.
According to Bernd Schuhmacher, CEO at E.ON Connecting Energies, no efficiency project needs to founder on the basis of financing. As an example, Schuhmacher pointed to the project that E.ON recently carried out for glass manufacturer Pilkington, which has received an Energy Efficiency Award from the German Energy Agency.
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