Going green could be the key to keeping your business alive in the future, according to organisation the Carbon Trust.
The Carbon Trust, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advising UK businesses on how to be more energy efficient, says huge enterprises and small shops will all benefit from turning to “clean technology”.
A report in the BBC says demand for food, water and energy will rise by as much as 50% by 2030 and the trust warns that businesses will need to change to survive.
Geoff Smyth, head of technology and delivery for the Carbon Trust, is quoted as saying: “Lighting accounts for 20% to 50% of total energy consumed in commercial buildings, and a lot of the time the lights don’t even need to be on.
“With these breakthroughs in LED and lighting management technology, businesses can achieve energy savings of 70% to 80% and see a payback on their investment within two or three years.”
He explains that if a hotel changes 80 lights to LEDs, costing £22,000, it will save £6,600 a year on its electricity bill.
The organisation also uses Houweling’s Tomatoes in Camarillo, California, as a shining example of a company using clean technology.
It has solar panels to generate electricity for its tomato-growing greenhouses and
captures and reuses rainwater. It also has a computer-monitored drip irrigation system to save on water and fertilizer and recycles more than 90% of its waste.
The cost of switching to energy efficient systems is getting cheaper, with solar panels costing half of what they did three years ago, according to the report.
The Carbon Trust believes cost is the main thing holding companies back from moving to clean technology, but this is hopefully becoming less of an obstacle.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21922098