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Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management

Received: 23 November 2020     Accepted: 16 March 2021     Published: 8 May 2021
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Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial in every economy, comprising ninety-nine percent (99%) of enterprises and providing about sixty percent (60%) of employment. They contribute about fifty percent (50%) of global gross value addition and between sixteen percent (16%) to about eighty percent (80%) of gross domestic product (IEA, 2015). Individual SMEs use small amounts of energy, but their collective energy demand is considerable. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates SMEs to consume more than thirteen (13%) of total global energy demand i.e. about 74 exajoules (EJ). Effective energy efficiency measures can save as much as 30% of consumption, namely 22 EJ, which is more than the energy used by Japan and Korea per year (IEA, 2015). Therefore, the increase in energy efficiency offers a substantial value for economies, societies and SMEs. This research looks at how SMEs in the Sunyani Municipality take seriously their energy consumption and how energy management can help reduce energy cost through efficiency improvement and increase profitability and growth of their businesses. The study was designed into two forms. Firstly, the energy use practices of the SMEs were investigated. Secondly, the study applied energy auditing method to identify energy reduction strategies that can help reduce the energy consumption of the SMEs. The results reveal that, majority of energy consumers in SMEs do not pay attention to their energy consumption patterns as indicated by 92% of the respondents interviewed. The increase in energy consumption among SMEs could be attributable to the increase in electricity bills. The energy audit identified energy conservation opportunities that can help reduce energy usage in the various SMEs such as switching from CFL and T12 lamps to LED bulbs, replacing old refrigerators, hair driers and industrial irons with more efficient ones, and replacing worn out equipment with high energy efficient ones. The study recommends the use of public education in a paradigm shift from the use of old appliances to new ones in order to save energy and cost.

Published in Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12
Page(s) 41-48
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Energy Audit, Energy Efficiency

References
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[2] International Energy Agency (IEA) (2015). Accelerating Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Powering SME's to catalyse economize growth, 81 pp.
[3] Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), U. K. WRAP Material change for better environment. Retrieved June 3, 2011, from WRAP UK web site: www.wrap.org.uk/wrap_corporate/about_wrap/resource_efficiency.html.
[4] Allwood J. M., Ashby M. F., Gutowski T. G., Worrell E. (2013), “Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production.” Philosophical Transactions Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, vol. 371, 1986 20120496, doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0496.
[5] Hirst, E. and M. Brown. (1990), “Closing the efficiency gap: barriers to the efficient use of energy”, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 3 (4): pp. 267-281.
[6] Payne, C. T. (2006). Energy Consumption Behaviour in the Commercial Sector: An Ethnographic Analysis of Utility Bill Information and Customer Comprehension in the Workplace.
[7] Ackah, I. (2017, March). Analysis of Energy Efficiency Practices of SMEs in Ghana: An application of Product Generational Dematerialisation. Africa Centre for Energy Policy. Retrieved from https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/77484/.
[8] Johansson, I., Mardan, N., Cornelis, E., Kimura, O., Thollander, P. (2019). Designing Policies and Programmes for Improved Energy Efficiency in Industrial SMEs, Energies, 17 pp.
[9] Bradford, J.; Fraser, E. D. G. (2008), “Local authorities, climate change and small and medium enterprises: Identifying effective policy instruments to reduce energy use and carbon emissions”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol 15, Issue 3, pp. 156-172.
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[12] Hrovatin, N.; Dolsak, N.; Zoric, J. (2015). Factors impacting investments in energy efficiency and clean technologies: Empirical evidence from Slovenian manufacturing firms. J. Clean. Prod., 127.
[13] Muzamwese, T. C. (2016). Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming industrial energy efficiency in small-to-medium-sized industries in Zimbabwe. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Energy Environ., 5, pp. 510–518.
[14] Paramonova, S.; Thollander, P. (2016). Ex-post impact and process evaluation of the Swedish energy audit policy programme for small and medium-sized enterprises. J. Clean. Prod. 135, pp. 932–949.
[15] Ghana Statistical Service, 2010 Population and Housing Census, (2012), 15 pp.
[16] Bernard, H. R. (2006). Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 4th ed., AltaMira Press; 824 pp.
[17] Saunders M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2007), Research Methods for Business Students, 6th ed., Pearson Education Limited, 604 pp.
[18] Toerien, D. F. and Seaman, M. T. (2012), “Regional order in the enterprise structures of selected Eastern Cape Karoo towns”, South African Geographical Journal, 94: 2, pp. 137-151.
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[20] Henry H. W., Symonds F. W., Bohm R. A., Gibbons J. H., Moore J. R., Snyder W. T. (2010). Energy Management - Theory and Practice, 457 pp.
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  • APA Style

    Isaac Ayebah Adams, Samuel Gyamfi, Christian Kwaku Amuzuvi. (2021). Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management. Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 9(2), 41-48. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12

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    ACS Style

    Isaac Ayebah Adams; Samuel Gyamfi; Christian Kwaku Amuzuvi. Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management. J. Electr. Electron. Eng. 2021, 9(2), 41-48. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12

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    AMA Style

    Isaac Ayebah Adams, Samuel Gyamfi, Christian Kwaku Amuzuvi. Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management. J Electr Electron Eng. 2021;9(2):41-48. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12,
      author = {Isaac Ayebah Adams and Samuel Gyamfi and Christian Kwaku Amuzuvi},
      title = {Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management},
      journal = {Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {41-48},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jeee.20210902.12},
      abstract = {Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial in every economy, comprising ninety-nine percent (99%) of enterprises and providing about sixty percent (60%) of employment. They contribute about fifty percent (50%) of global gross value addition and between sixteen percent (16%) to about eighty percent (80%) of gross domestic product (IEA, 2015). Individual SMEs use small amounts of energy, but their collective energy demand is considerable. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates SMEs to consume more than thirteen (13%) of total global energy demand i.e. about 74 exajoules (EJ). Effective energy efficiency measures can save as much as 30% of consumption, namely 22 EJ, which is more than the energy used by Japan and Korea per year (IEA, 2015). Therefore, the increase in energy efficiency offers a substantial value for economies, societies and SMEs. This research looks at how SMEs in the Sunyani Municipality take seriously their energy consumption and how energy management can help reduce energy cost through efficiency improvement and increase profitability and growth of their businesses. The study was designed into two forms. Firstly, the energy use practices of the SMEs were investigated. Secondly, the study applied energy auditing method to identify energy reduction strategies that can help reduce the energy consumption of the SMEs. The results reveal that, majority of energy consumers in SMEs do not pay attention to their energy consumption patterns as indicated by 92% of the respondents interviewed. The increase in energy consumption among SMEs could be attributable to the increase in electricity bills. The energy audit identified energy conservation opportunities that can help reduce energy usage in the various SMEs such as switching from CFL and T12 lamps to LED bulbs, replacing old refrigerators, hair driers and industrial irons with more efficient ones, and replacing worn out equipment with high energy efficient ones. The study recommends the use of public education in a paradigm shift from the use of old appliances to new ones in order to save energy and cost.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Making Energy Savings by the Engagement of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise on Energy Management
    AU  - Isaac Ayebah Adams
    AU  - Samuel Gyamfi
    AU  - Christian Kwaku Amuzuvi
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jeee.20210902.12
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    JF  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
    JO  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2329-1605
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    AB  - Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial in every economy, comprising ninety-nine percent (99%) of enterprises and providing about sixty percent (60%) of employment. They contribute about fifty percent (50%) of global gross value addition and between sixteen percent (16%) to about eighty percent (80%) of gross domestic product (IEA, 2015). Individual SMEs use small amounts of energy, but their collective energy demand is considerable. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates SMEs to consume more than thirteen (13%) of total global energy demand i.e. about 74 exajoules (EJ). Effective energy efficiency measures can save as much as 30% of consumption, namely 22 EJ, which is more than the energy used by Japan and Korea per year (IEA, 2015). Therefore, the increase in energy efficiency offers a substantial value for economies, societies and SMEs. This research looks at how SMEs in the Sunyani Municipality take seriously their energy consumption and how energy management can help reduce energy cost through efficiency improvement and increase profitability and growth of their businesses. The study was designed into two forms. Firstly, the energy use practices of the SMEs were investigated. Secondly, the study applied energy auditing method to identify energy reduction strategies that can help reduce the energy consumption of the SMEs. The results reveal that, majority of energy consumers in SMEs do not pay attention to their energy consumption patterns as indicated by 92% of the respondents interviewed. The increase in energy consumption among SMEs could be attributable to the increase in electricity bills. The energy audit identified energy conservation opportunities that can help reduce energy usage in the various SMEs such as switching from CFL and T12 lamps to LED bulbs, replacing old refrigerators, hair driers and industrial irons with more efficient ones, and replacing worn out equipment with high energy efficient ones. The study recommends the use of public education in a paradigm shift from the use of old appliances to new ones in order to save energy and cost.
    VL  - 9
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Author Information
  • Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana

  • Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana

  • Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana

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