IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i14p5441-d1196276.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ISO 50001-Based Energy Management Systems as a Practical Path for Decarbonization: Initial Findings from a Survey of Technical Assistance Cohort Participants

Author

Listed:
  • Heidi Fuchs

    (Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Peter Therkelsen

    (Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • William C. Miller

    (Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Graziella Siciliano

    (Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Paul Sheaffer

    (Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

Abstract

Organizations face rising pressure to take action to reduce their climate-affecting emissions (i.e., decarbonize). While many responses are possible, an essential approach—strategically managing their energy consumption as an essential business practice via an ISO 50001-based energy management system—is not yet widely recognized as a framework for decarbonization. This study analyzes interim survey results from 24 organizations (a 48% response rate) implementing a rigorous energy management system, one deployed by the U.S. Department of Energy as “50001 Ready”, to test whether participating organizations perceive the energy management system under development as an essential aspect of their decarbonization efforts. The results are preliminary in nature, given the ongoing nature of the program and associated data collection; however, they are sufficient to refute our hypothesis that energy management systems are perceived by organizations participating in 50001 Ready cohorts to primarily affect energy performance with little-to-no connection regarding decarbonization efforts. Major findings include that participants’ decarbonization targets and commitments are driven by market imperatives (highlighting the importance of ISO 50001 as a management system tool) and that they see energy efficiency as vital to decarbonizing. We conclude by suggesting future research directions to further establish the premise that energy management systems are an effective, efficient, and long-lasting decarbonization strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidi Fuchs & Peter Therkelsen & William C. Miller & Graziella Siciliano & Paul Sheaffer, 2023. "ISO 50001-Based Energy Management Systems as a Practical Path for Decarbonization: Initial Findings from a Survey of Technical Assistance Cohort Participants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:14:p:5441-:d:1196276
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/14/5441/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/14/5441/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McKane, Aimee & Therkelsen, Peter & Scodel, Anna & Rao, Prakash & Aghajanzadeh, Arian & Hirzel, Simon & Zhang, Ruiqin & Prem, Richard & Fossa, Alberto & Lazarevska, Ana M. & Matteini, Marco & Schreck,, 2017. "Predicting the quantifiable impacts of ISO 50001 on climate change mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 278-288.
    2. Fuchs, Heidi & Aghajanzadeh, Arian & Therkelsen, Peter, 2020. "Identification of drivers, benefits, and challenges of ISO 50001 through case study content analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Wei Guo & Thomas Wenning & Jennifer Travis & Michael Stowe & Kristina Armstrong & Sachin Nimbalkar & Eli Levine, 2022. "Initial Findings from US Department of Energy’s Better Plants Virtual in-Plant Training on 50001 Ready," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fredrik von Malmborg & Peter A. Strachan, 2023. "Advocacy Coalitions and Paths to Policy Change for Promoting Energy Efficiency in European Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Carlos Herce & Enrico Biele & Chiara Martini & Marcello Salvio & Claudia Toro, 2021. "Impact of Energy Monitoring and Management Systems on the Implementation and Planning of Energy Performance Improved Actions: An Empirical Analysis Based on Energy Audits in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    3. Liudmyla Davydenko & Nina Davydenko & Andrii Bosak & Alla Bosak & Agnieszka Deja & Tygran Dzhuguryan, 2022. "Smart Sustainable Freight Transport for a City Multi-Floor Manufacturing Cluster: A Framework of the Energy Efficiency Monitoring of Electric Vehicle Fleet Charging," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, May.
    4. Meron Tesfamichael & Edson Twinomujuni & Mbeo Ogeya & Silver Ssebagala & Yacob Mulugetta, 2022. "Barriers to the institutionalization of industrial energy efficiency in Africa: A case study from Uganda," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), May.
    5. Jan Kaselofsky & Marika Rošā & Anda Jekabsone & Solenne Favre & Gabriel Loustalot & Michaël Toma & Jose Pablo Delgado Marín & Manuel Moreno Nicolás & Emanuele Cosenza, 2021. "Getting Municipal Energy Management Systems ISO 50001 Certified: A Study with 28 European Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Senthil Sundaramoorthy & Dipti Kamath & Sachin Nimbalkar & Christopher Price & Thomas Wenning & Joseph Cresko, 2023. "Energy Efficiency as a Foundational Technology Pillar for Industrial Decarbonization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Gandhi, Nevil & Kant, Ravi & Thakkar, Jitesh, 2022. "Sustainable performance assessment of rail freight transportation using triple bottom line approach: An application to Indian Railways," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 254-273.
    8. Dora Smolčić Jurdana & Zvonimira Šverko Grdić & Marinela Krstinić Nižić, 2020. "Managers’ Informedness of Energy Issues in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Milena Nebojsa Rajić & Rado M. Maksimović & Pedja Milosavljević, 2022. "Energy Management Model for Sustainable Development in Hotels within WB6," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Izabela Simon Rampasso & Geraldo Pereira Melo Filho & Rosley Anholon & Robson Amarante de Araujo & Gilson Brito Alves Lima & Luis Perez Zotes & Walter Leal Filho, 2019. "Challenges Presented in the Implementation of Sustainable Energy Management via ISO 50001:2011," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-12, November.
    11. António da Silva Gonçalves, Vítor & Mil-Homens dos Santos, Feliz José, 2019. "Energy management system ISO 50001:2011 and energy management for sustainable development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    12. Mauricio Chamorro Diaz & Miguel Viveros Mira & Enrique C. Quispe & Rosaura Castrillón & Ana Lasso & Juan R. Vidal, 2023. "A Methodology to Analyze Significant Energy Uses and Energy Consumption for Improving Energy Performance in Higher Education Buildings," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 636-649, November.
    13. Chun-Hung Cheng & Bau-Jen Tang & Yea-Rong Cheng, 2024. "Strategies and Tools for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to Move toward Green Operations: The Case of the Taiwan Metal Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, May.
    14. Frederic Marimon & Martí Casadesús, 2017. "Reasons to Adopt ISO 50001 Energy Management System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, September.
    15. Nora Munguia & Javier Esquer & Hector Guzman & Janim Herrera & Jesus Gutierrez-Ruelas & Luis Velazquez, 2020. "Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings: A Step toward the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, February.
    16. Rosaura Castrillón-Mendoza & Javier M. Rey-Hernández & Francisco J. Rey-Martínez, 2020. "Industrial Decarbonization by a New Energy-Baseline Methodology. Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, March.
    17. Vichan Nakthong & Kuskana Kubaha, 2019. "Development of a Sustainability Index for an Energy Management System in Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-24, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:14:p:5441-:d:1196276. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.