Evaluating the enablers and barriers for successful implementation of sustainable business practice in ‘lean’ SMEs

The iron and steel industry is the largest coal consumer and the most greenhouse gas intensive industry. It consumes about 7% of global energy supply, and conservative estimates report that it is responsible for 7–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonization of the iron and steel industry is thus vital to meet climate change mitigation targets and achieve a sustainable future for the industry. This paper presents a comprehensive and systematic review that considered more than 1.6 million pieces of literature and analyzes in depth a shortlist of 271 studies on the iron and steel industry's decarbonization. Applying a sociotechnical lens that investigates raw materials, iron and steel making processes, steel products making and usage, and waste and recycling, the review identifies the climate footprint of the iron and steel industry. The review also assesses current and emerging practices for decarbonization, identifying 86 potentially transformative technologies. The benefits of decarbonizing the iron and steel industry are considered through energy and carbon savings, financial savings, and other environmental and public health benefits. Barriers to decarbonization are considered across financial, organizational, and behavioral aspects. The review also discusses various financial tools and policy instruments that can help overcome the barriers. Lastly, research gaps are outlined. 

Decarbonizing the iron and steel industry: A systematic review of sociotechnical systems, technological innovations, and policy options

This paper empirically investigates the factors driving the adoption of energy-efficiency measures by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our analyses are based on cross-sectional data from SMEs which participated in a German energy audit program between 2008 and 2010. In general, our findings appear robust to alternative model specifications and are consistent with the theoretical and still scarce empirical literature on barriers to energy efficiency in SMEs. More specifically, high investment costs, which are captured by subjective and objective proxies, appear to impede the adoption of energy-efficient measures, even if these measures are deemed profitable. Similarly, we find that lack of capital slows the adoption of energy-efficient measures, primarily for larger investments. Hence, investment subsidies or soft loans (for larger invest-ments) may help accelerating the diffusion of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs. Other barriers were not found to be statistically significant. Finally, our findings provide evidence that the quality of energy audits affects the adoption of energy-efficiency measures. Hence, effective regulation should involve quality standards for energy au-dits, templates for audit reports or mandatory monitoring of energy audits.

Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data

From farm to fork, food and beverage consumption can have significant negative impacts on energy consumption, water consumption, climate change, and other environmental subsystems. This paper presents a comprehensive, critical and systematic review of more than 350,000 sources of evidence, and a short list of 701 studies, on the topic of greenhouse gas emissions from the food and beverage industry. Utilizing a sociotechnical lens that examines food supply and agriculture, manufacturing, retail and distribution, and consumption and use, the review identifies the most carbon-intensive processes in the industry, as well as the corresponding energy and carbon “footprints”. It discusses multiple current and emerging options and practices for decarbonization, including 78 potentially transformative technologies. It examines the benefits to sector decarbonization—including energy and carbon savings, cost savings, and other co-benefits related to sustainability or health—as well as barriers across financial and economic, institutional and managerial, and behavioral and consumer dimensions. It lastly discusses how financing, business models, and policy can be harnessed to help overcome these barriers, and identifies a set of research gaps.

Decarbonizing the food and beverages industry: A critical and systematic review of developments, sociotechnical systems and policy options

Industrial sustainability: Modelling drivers and mechanisms with barriers

Industrial energy efficiency represents a priority for European industrial competitiveness. Many studies offer contributions providing evidence of the existence of driving forces supporting the adoption of energy efficiency measures, but a structured approach to drivers for industrial energy efficiency is still lacking. Therefore, in the present study, we propose a definition of drivers, making emphasis on the industrial decision-maker perspective, that is needed for their classification here proposed. Focus is given to point out the difference between internal and external drivers, highlighting the major stakeholders responsible for their promotion. Drivers are further categorized into: regulatory, economic, informative, and vocational training. Moreover, we propose a framework describing the effect of drivers on barriers in the decision-making process, as well as a preliminary identification of the major stakeholders to promote drivers. The study opens several opportunities for further research in the area of industrial energy efficiency.

Classification of drivers for industrial energy efficiency and their effect on the barriers affecting the investment decision-making process

Industrial activities are responsible for a significant share of both global delivered energy demand and CO2 emissions. Hence, a widespread adoption of energy-efficient technologies and practices represents a crucial means for sustainable production. Adopting a novel framework of drivers for energy efficiency describing the effect of drivers on barriers in the decision-making process steps and able to account for the nature of drivers and the stakeholders responsible for their promotion, we have performed an exploratory investigation into 61 manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises in Northern Italy. Our findings have highlighted the importance of information and economic drivers, showing the need for enterprises to be supported not only by public institutions but also by external stakeholders involved in the supply of energy-efficient technologies and practices such as industrial associations and groupings, as well as service and technology suppliers. Moreover, our study has highlighted an almost equal relevance of both internal and external drivers. According to our findings, the increase of awareness—generating the interest to energy issues and stimulated both by external and internal stakeholders—as well as financial issues have emerged as the most critical in the decision-making process to adopt an energy-efficient measure. A preliminary comprehension of the mechanisms relating drivers to barriers in the decision-making process brought additional value to the study, highlighting the most effective and specific means to overcome the existing barriers. We have also explored the effect of several firm characteristics, such as firm size and energy intensity offering suggestions for industrial decision-makers as well as policy-makers.

/pdf/drivers-for-energy-efficiency-and-their-effect-on-barriers-37dbj3ex7i.pdf

Drivers for energy efficiency and their effect on barriers: empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing enterprises

/pdf/erratum-to-drivers-for-energy-efficiency-and-their-effect-on-ocoimddd7o.pdf

Erratum to: Drivers for energy efficiency and their effect on barriers: empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing enterprises (Energy Efficiency, (2017), 10, 4, (855-869), 10.1007/s12053-016-9488-x)

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Classification of drivers for industrial energy efficiency and their effect on the barriers affecting the investment decision-making process

Drivers for energy efficiency and their effect on barriers: empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing enterprises

Erratum to: Drivers for energy efficiency and their effect on barriers: empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing enterprises (Energy Efficiency, (2017), 10, 4, (855-869), 10.1007/s12053-016-9488-x)