An Empirical Investigation of Barriers, Drivers and Practices for Energy Efficiency in Primary Metals Manufacturing SMEs

Trianni, Andrea; Cagno, Enrico; Stefano, Farné

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2014.11.1071

Cited by 31 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The key papers that exist (e.g., [6][7][8][34][35][36]) focus primarily on energy efficiency activities rather than micro-generation, target specific SME sectors or sizes, and concentrate on specific countries or regions within countries. For example, [6] focused on energy efficiency in UK SMEs, though it included both industrial and non-industrial SMEs; Trianni et al [7,34] investigated energy efficiency in industrial SMEs specifically in primary metals manufacturing in northern Italy; Backman [8] concentrated on energy efficiency in non-energy-intensive SMEs in Sweden; Pereira and Ferreira [35] explored energy efficiency in industrial SMEs in Portugal; and Onut and Soner [36] focused on energy efficiency in manufacturing-based SMEs in Turkey. Thus, a methodological approach that examines micro-generation in SMEs rather than energy efficiency, does not exclude participation based on SME sector or size, and focuses on the UK (which has received less attention than other countries with regards to DSM research on SMEs), provides an important part of the rationale for this part of the research.…”

Section: Differences Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research (e.g., [34][35][36]) has focused primarily on bottom-up approaches to investigating energy issues in SMEs, and as a result, there is limited analysis, especially quantitative analysis, that has provided a high-level top-down overview of the market potential. Those that exist (e.g., [37]) concentrate mainly on energy efficiency issues rather than smart technologies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information barriers are primarily concerned with imperfect information and a lack of technical skills to process the information [8]. Linked to this is trust-the studies highlight that information about technologies, regulations and opportunities for financing are perceived as complicated or untrustworthy [7,34]. The third category, competing priorities, concentrates on the pressure on the limited time, people and operational resources of SMEs.…”

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In synthesising previous related research on the drivers and barriers to energy efficiency (rather than micro-generation) in SMEs (e.g., [6][7][8][34][35][36]), it is clear that the main barriers concentrate on three areas: economic, information and competing priorities. Economic barriers revolve around the limited availability of capital to meet the required upfront costs of energy efficiency [6,7,34,35], which has to be met within a context of meeting other investment priorities [35].…”

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Economic barriers revolve around the limited availability of capital to meet the required upfront costs of energy efficiency [6,7,34,35], which has to be met within a context of meeting other investment priorities [35]. There is similarly an internal management push to ensure that payback periods for investments are less than two years [6], despite the cost-effectiveness of many energy efficiency technologies, such as insulation measures.…”

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential of Smart Technologies and Micro-Generation in UK SMEs

Warren

2017

Energies

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Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up 99% of businesses and contribute 13% of energy demand globally. However, much of the demand-side energy research and policy attention to date has focused on the domestic, large commercial and industrial sectors. Previous research on SMEs has primarily concentrated on the drivers and barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency measures. However, less attention has been given to other areas of demand-side management in SMEs, such as the role of 'smart' technologies and micro-generation. The paper aims to contribute to filling this gap. To analyse the potential of smart technologies in UK SMEs, a quantitative model is developed to assess seven categories of smart technologies in ten non-domestic sectors. Overall, the results suggest that smart technologies within the UK SME market offer significant estimated annual energy savings potential of~£8.6 billion against an estimated energy spend of~£49.7 billion (representing~17% savings potential on energy expenditures). From the smart technology categories examined, fleet management, integrated building management systems and smart meters have the potential to offer the greatest energy savings to SMEs, providing estimated total energy savings of £7.5 billion annually. To analyse the potential of micro-generation in UK SMEs, interview-based qualitative research was undertaken with 17 SMEs to explore the drivers and barriers to its adoption. The research found that the initial costs, technical feasibility and planning permission on historical buildings were the main barriers, and that the 'green' marketing potential of micro-generation, coupled with ethical reasons and feed-in tariffs, were the main drivers.

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Section: Differences Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-generation In Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Potential of Smart Technologies and Micro-Generation in UK SMEs

Warren

2017

Energies

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Sustainable environmental practices and financial performance: Evidence from listed small and medium‐sized enterprise in the United Kingdom

Boakye

Tingbani

Ahinful³

et al. 2020

Bus Strat Env

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In this article, we investigate the financial implication of sustainable environmental practices on UK small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)–traded firms. Existing literature indicates that there is a direct relationship between sustainable environmental practices and financial performance. However, studies looking at this relationship have focused mainly on large firms with little attention paid to SMEs. Further, those looking at environmental and financial performance relationships have often used a single measure of performance in their studies. This study bridges these research gaps by focusing on listed SMEs in the United Kingdom using multiple measures of sustainable environmental policy indices on a panel of 201 SMEs on the Alternative Investment Market from 2011 to 2016. Evidence from our panel data analysis suggests significant and a nonlinear (concave) relationship between sustainable environmental practices and firms' financial performance. Specifically, energy efficiency practices, greenhouse gases, material, and resource efficiency revealed an inverted U‐shaped relationship with financial performance. The results will offer guidance to management in terms of allocating resources to sustainable environmental practices investment.

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Has the Covid‐19 pandemic jeopardized firms' environmental behavior? Bridging green initiatives and firm value through the triple bottom line approach

Karman

Prokop

Giglio

et al. 2023

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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The Covid‐19 pandemic has caused a significant decline in stock markets worldwide, and organizations are experiencing serious financial problems. Protecting and preserving firm value are critical ways to help organizations survive the crisis. This study analyzes a sample of 45 firms listed on the Polish Stock Market in two periods to determine the relationship among green initiatives, the triple bottom line (TBL) perspective, and firm value in the periods before and during the crisis caused by the Covid‐19 pandemic. The results show that firms with higher green initiatives are more likely to obtain better TBL performance during the normal period. Economic and social dimensions of TBL positively influence firm value regardless of the period, but the same is not true of the ecological dimension. The Covid‐19 pandemic's negative impact on investors' perception does not translate to firm value. This study provides the first empirical evidence on the value of organizations affected by the Covid‐19 pandemic in the context of environmental management. By considering the TBL approach, this study provides a new boundary condition that explains the impact mechanism of green initiatives during a crisis.

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An Empirical Investigation of Barriers, Drivers and Practices for Energy Efficiency in Primary Metals Manufacturing SMEs

Cited by 31 publications

References 9 publications

The Potential of Smart Technologies and Micro-Generation in UK SMEs

The Potential of Smart Technologies and Micro-Generation in UK SMEs

Sustainable environmental practices and financial performance: Evidence from listed small and medium‐sized enterprise in the United Kingdom

Has the Covid‐19 pandemic jeopardized firms' environmental behavior? Bridging green initiatives and firm value through the triple bottom line approach

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