A new report has revealed that the British food production sector wastes £300m each year by using outdated off-mains energy sources.
The sector, which includes rural food and drink manufacturing companies, currently spends £1.03 billion a year on oil for its heating, lighting and manufacturing processes. Even though oil prices are currently falling, new research suggests this figure can still be cut dramatically to around £750 million by switching to LPG. The wasted spend comes from companies which, unable to access mains energy, are using old-fashioned energy supplies like oil.
The alternative to oil for off-mains energy is LPG, a fuel with a lower cost price, less CO2 emissions and greater efficiency. By switching to LPG, the sector could reduce its energy costs on fuel alone by almost £223 million, a saving of 22%. This saving rises to up to almost £278 million when the oil burning equipment is replaced by the much more fuel efficient LPG burners, giving a total saving of up to 27% when compared to oil.
With cost savings of up to 27%, when compared to the cost of switching from oil to LPG, the benefits are obvious, with the average business recouping their initial outlay in under a year. The benefits of changing fuels aren’t just financial, there are also huge environmental benefits as the switch to LPG can lead to a massive reduction in the sector’s carbon footprint.
With the sector currently using almost 18.5 billion KW of energy a year from off-mains resources, generated from almost 1.7 billion litres of oil, it is producing the equivalent of 5 million tonnes of CO2 a year. However, if that energy had been generated from LPG, the equivalent CO2 produced would be just over 3.8 million tonnes, a reduction of over 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 a year (23%).
This saving is equivalent to 550,000 flights from London to Sydney, or the weight of 11 million baby elephants. The figures are revealed in the ‘Flogas Energy Expenditure Report’, a piece of research initially carried out by Flogas to provide background information for its sales teams. However, the company was so shocked by the findings, it decided to share them with the sector as a whole.
This isn’t the only industry where savings could be made, with huge financial and carbon wastage taking place in all other industries using off-mains supplies.
However, it appears that many businesses aren’t aware of LPG or they are under the false impression that the switching process is complicated or expensive.
Commenting on the findings, Lee Gannon, Flogas managing director said: “We initially carried out the research purely for internal purposes, but after seeing the figures, we felt the only responsible action was to share them with the industry. These are figures that everyone needs to see. Times are still tough, and there is a greater need than ever for businesses to reduce their energy costs and cut carbon emissions.
“We find the biggest reasons that businesses burn oil is a lack of awareness that there is a cheaper, greener alternative, or because they are under the misconception that switching is expensive or difficult. By sharing these figures we hope to help the sector make savings, while at the same time making a large dent in their carbon footprint.”
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