Every 5 March for the last 19 years we have been celebrating World Energy Efficiency Day with the aim of inviting the public to reflect on the rational use of energy and the need to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. Energy efficiency is understood to be the intelligent and responsible use of the energy resources around us. The priority is to use our knowledge to manage without endangering our own well-being.
There is a regulatory framework in the European Union, Directive 2012/27/EU approved in October 2012 by the European Parliament and the European Council. This directive lays down a common framework with the aim of encouraging efficiency in member states and promoting specific actions in order to achieve energy savings.
Great efforts have also been made in the world of business to optimise energy efficiency. According to the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), 31% of the energy consumed in Spain is by the industrial sector.
In addition to its environmental consequences, the energy that is consumed has an effect on competitiveness, particularly in companies that require high levels of energy for their processes. In order to meet energy efficiency targets, it is essential to implement all the possible mechanisms and to create a system that regularly reviews the advances made.
A number of years ago Enagás committed to closely monitoring each of its processes and shaping its supply chain to become more efficient, identifying points for improvement, anticipating problems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In order to make this plan even more effective, we decided more than five years ago to set a series of energy intensity targets for each of our facilities. This has enabled us to control more precisely the energy expenditure and reduce our 2015 CO2 footprint by 47% on the previous year. Using this information, we expect to reduce emissions for 2016–2018 by 30% on the previous period.
The company is also making great strides for energy efficiency in four major areas: optimisation of mechanical, thermal and electrical performance; optimisation of processes; making use of and adding value to residual energies (pressure, heat and cold); and making use of other energy sources.
In addition to these projects, other aspects already analysed in this blog also play an important part, such as optimisation of infrastructures and efficiency in transport, whether by land or sea.