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A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal

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  • O’Keeffe, Juliette M.
  • Gilmour, Daniel
  • Simpson, Edward

Abstract

The Green Deal (GD) was launched in 2013 by the UK Government as a market-led scheme to encourage uptake of energy efficiency measures in the UK and create green sector jobs. The scheme closed in July 2015 after 30 months due to government concerns over low uptake and industry standards but additional factors potentially contributed to its failure such as poor scheme design and lack of understanding of the customer and supply chain journey. We explore the role of key delivery agents of GD services, specifically SMEs, and we use the LoCal-Net project as a case study to examine the use of networks to identify and reduce barriers to SME market engagement. We find that SMEs experienced multiple barriers to interaction with the GD such as lack of access to information, training, and confusion over delivery of the scheme but benefited from interaction with the network to access information, improve understanding of the scheme, increasing networking opportunities and forming new business models and partnerships to reduce risk. The importance of SMEs as delivery agents and their role in the design of market-led schemes such as the GD are discussed with recommendations for improving SME engagement in green sector initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • O’Keeffe, Juliette M. & Gilmour, Daniel & Simpson, Edward, 2016. "A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 582-590.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:97:y:2016:i:c:p:582-590
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.08.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Cui, Li & Chan, Hing Kai & Zhou, Yizhuo & Dai, Jing & Lim, Jia Jia, 2019. "Exploring critical factors of green business failure based on Grey-Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL)," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 450-461.
    3. Seyed Vahid Vakili & Fabio Ballini & Dimitrios Dalaklis & Aykut I. Ölçer, 2022. "A Conceptual Transdisciplinary Framework to Overcome Energy Efficiency Barriers in Ship Operation Cycles to Meet IMO’s Initial Green House Gas Strategy Goals: Case Study for an Iranian Shipping Compan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    4. Beatrice Marchi & Simone Zanoni, 2017. "Supply Chain Management for Improved Energy Efficiency: Review and Opportunities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-29, October.
    5. Carlotta Piantieri, 2018. "Innovative Business Models for Cleantechs," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 125, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Brown, Donal & Sorrell, Steve & Kivimaa, Paula, 2019. "Worth the risk? An evaluation of alternative finance mechanisms for residential retrofit," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 418-430.
    7. Christopoulos, Stamatios & Demir, Cansu & Kull, Michael, 2016. "Cross-sectoral coordination for sustainable solutions in Croatia: The (meta) governance of energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 57-87.

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