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A new and emerging energy management
industry could grow to employ thousands of Irish people if this
country decides to play a leading role in climate change solutions,
the National Standards Authority of Ireland and Sustainable Energy
Ireland believe.
“All over the world, the environmental and energy-management
sector is increasingly regarded as a potential field to create new
employment, from providing energy-advice services, to energy
auditing and energy education,” Maurice Buckley, chief executive,
National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), said.
Marking World Standards Day today, Buckley said Ireland already has
considerable experience in developing world-class standards in
energy management and have a growing industry around energy, well
ahead of Europe.
“Ireland can play a leading role in climate-change solutions through
developing energy standards and innovating in energy management,
potentially creating thousands of jobs,” Buckley said.
Prof Owen Lewis, chief executive of Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI),
said Ireland has one of the highest take-ups in the world for
certified energy management, with more than 80pc of the largest
energy-using companies in Ireland already committed to the energy
management standard I.S.393.
“These companies have avoided more than €50 million in energy costs
in 2007 and we expect equally positive results in 2008. With the
recent publication of the new European Energy Management Standard
EN16001, a group of Irish-based companies are the first to implement
this new standard in Europe.
“Companies such as Diageo in Dublin and Heinz in Dundalk are now
exporting their energy-efficiency expertise to sister plants
worldwide, which shows that Ireland is truly leading the way in
energy management in the global arena.”
Since 1970, World Standards Day has been celebrated throughout the
world. Its aim is to raise awareness of the importance of
international standards and their role in helping meet the needs of
all business sectors and, this year’s theme, 'Tackling Climate
Change through Standards', aims to highlight how standards can
protect and preserve the environment.
There are hundreds of standards that deal with energy and
environmental management, the sampling, testing and analysis of air,
water and soil, and contain information and recommendations on
environmental aspects like materials, industrial processes,
recycling and waste disposal.
Speaking at the launch of World Standards Day, the Minister for
Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher TD, said a key element of
Government plans is to build a smarter, greener economy.
“There are huge global business advantages to developing more
expertise in energy efficiencies and standards. Standards offer the
world's governments and industry the best possible benchmarks and
allow all countries to take advantage of the knowledge and
experience gained in more advanced economies.
“For example, NSAI’s Irish energy standard, I.S.393, was used as the
base for the development of the new European energy management
standard, EN 16001, for use among 27 EU counties, as well as
Iceland, Switzerland and Norway,” Kelliher added.
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