SMEs Contributing to Energy Efficiency Solutions: APEC
Big business may be the largest energy users but it is small and medium enterprises which are contributing to innovative energy efficiency solutions, an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference will be told next week.
The Australian Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey, said that SMEs are actively developing innovative solutions and services that can deliver big advances in the battle to cut greenhouse emissions.
To illustrate the point, Ms Bailey has invited two Australian SMEs which are utilising newly-developed energy-saving technologies to present workshops at the 14th APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Hobart, Tasmania, from 4-9 March.
One of the companies, Petratherm Ltd, was established in 2003 with the aim of producing economically-viable geothermal energy as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. This energy source is free from greenhouse gas emissions and is capable of providing constant power to supply base-load electricity constantly.
The other company, Energetics Pty Ltd, is one of the world's leading innovators in energy management practices. As a SME with 70 employees, the company has developed leading edge and innovative solutions for reducing energy costs and efficiency for a wide range of clients in the manufacturing, commercial, mining/minerals, government, energy and water-utility sectors.
Fran Bailey said that the workshops were designed to give the APEC conference a very practical "hands-on" element. The 200 delegates who have registered for the conference, which has the theme "Driving SME growth through economic reform" would also visit successful SME operations in Tasmania, and would also exchange information on effective Government programs to promote the small business sector.
"There are 1.9 million SMEs in Australia alone, and 49 million in the 21 member economies in APEC," Fran Bailey said. "It is the SME sector which is the most dynamic sector of the economy."
"By their very nature, they have to be so flexible that it is where the innovation occurs and big business is looking more and more to this sector to find the solution that it needs to become, for example, more energy-efficient in the future."
In addition to growth, innovation and climate change issues, the meeting will focus on measures to cut costs to SMEs and reducing 'red tape' (over-regulation); and tackling barriers to exports.