By Elaine Larkin Specialised training for staff on issues relevant to energy awareness could help save £30 million (€38 million) a year for large industries, a conference has been told.
Mr Brian Sheridan, of the Irish Energy Centre - part of the Department of Public Enterprise - told an energy conference in Mallow yesterday that staff training programmes on energy awareness would lead not only to cost savings but to a 420,000-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the Republic.
Each year, 72 of the Republic's biggest industrial plants, involved mainly in electronic, food, health and pharmaceutical manufacture, spend £170 million (€216 million) on industrial energy.
According to Mr Sheridan, the Republic's economic boom is continuing to put upward pressure on energy costs. Despite this, savings of up to 15 per cent at some companies and total cost savings of £7.6 million a year are being achieved by members of the Irish Energy Centre's annual self-audit scheme.
"There is enormous scope for energy saving by purely `good housekeeping' and by raising the awareness and motivation levels of staff," said Mr Sheridan.
