Date: Tue 17th November, 2009
Venue:
Number of Guests Attended: 90
The environment is up there with the downturn as one of the two big business issues of the moment. Companies are increasingly looking at how they can save money by using less energy, and at getting an edge on their competitors by being greener.
Steve Westhead, plant manager at chemicals company Solutia, told Insider’s first Green Debate how the company had recently put up two wind turbines measuring over 100 metres each. “We are a big consumer of energy, we had been looking at the amount of energy we use,” he said. “It’s one of our biggest costs and we have issues about energy security as well.”
Asked about the risk confusion between different environmental messages, Westhead said the business case was straightforward: “We’ve been doing a lot of work on lean manufacturing. Lean really just boils down to reducing waste. Energy is just a form of waste and it is just a matter of reducing that.”
Tim Lineham, programme manager for Envirowise in Wales, said he could understand why businesses might be confused by different messages. He advised: “Look at yourself and your cost base. It might be that your solution is on energy efficiency, it might be on packaging – it really depends on your business and your sector.”
The Welsh Assembly Government’s Flexible Support for Business service should direct companies the right way, according to Carbon Trust Wales manger Mike Batt said. He added: “If it is not our area of expertise, we will use the network of organisations around us and direct you to the right place.”
Panelists suggested the Welsh Assembly Government could publish figures on energy reduction to encourage companies to become greener. “It would be interesting if those figures were released,” said Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Wales director of the Institute of Directors. “If I was in an organisation and I knew a competitor was gaining benefit by reducing their carbon footprint, I’d want to emulate that – I think it would be a good marker to put down.”
Solutia has been involved in carbon dioxide trading since it was introduced, said Westhead, but he added: “That only applies to larger users. There probably needs to be a more general mechanism, because what gets measured gets done.”
The debate moved on to public sector spending cuts. Lineham suggested these could prompt energy saving: “I can see the public sector needing to change. The sector recognises there are lots of opportunities to save money and use their resources more efficiently.”
Batt added: “We work with all the public sector organisations in Wales, and 12 of them have signed up to a 60 per cent reduction in their carbon footprint over the next 10 years.”
Using technology to replace face-to face meetings has created cost savings for Solutia, Westhead said: “When the big crunch happened last year, everything was cut, including the worldwide travel budget. We had talked bout cutting back on travel for years, and this time we really meant it. The budget was cut from $24m (£14m) a year to a third of that. That was through getting serious on teleconferencing and videoconferencing. It has saved a lot of time as well.”
Batt added: “We’d struggle without remote working. We try to be where the clients are in Wales, which cuts down the cost of travel. Without substantial IT support we would not be able to achieve that. Having said that, IT is also quite a big energy consumer if it is not used correctly.”
