Ministries team up to promote energy efficiency

The Environmental Protection Ministry and the Small and Medium Businesses Administration of the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry have jointly launched a “savings patrol” to help businesses increase their energy efficiency and reduce pollution.

The patrol intends to help small- and medium-sized businesses not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also their operational costs, the ministries said.

Those businesses that decide to embark upon the energy efficiency path will be able to receive accompanying funds for furthering that process and will receive the help of an environmental consultant to help them achieve their goals and meet green regulations, the offices explained. The patrol will be working with businesses in which energy consumption is a major factor in their operations.

“Green economic activity is beneficial for both industry and the environment,” Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said. “A few simple steps can reduce a business’s expenses and the pollution that it produces, and the direct beneficiary of this is the consumer.”

The Environmental Protection Ministry and the Small and Medium Businesses Administration will subsidize the cost of the consultation process, requiring an investment from the owners of only about NIS 30 per hour, the offices explained.

In addition to mapping the energy resources used by the businesses, the consultants will perform potential efficiency analyses, offer possible solutions, evaluate return on investment, and provide support during the implementation process of a given solution.

“Energy efficiency is good for business and good for the environment,” said Ran Kiviti, director of the Small and Medium Businesses Administration.

“It promotes sustainability in two ways: reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing pressure on natural resources, and supporting small businesses that benefit the local economy and the society in which they operate.”

Managers of small- and medium-sized businesses have a very heavy administrative burden, and there is often a lack of familiarity with the potential savings such a business can accumulate by reducing energy consumption, Kiviti explained.

The patrol will be able to help the owners and workers of these businesses reach their maximum potential in energy efficiency, he stressed.