EU challenges companies to save energy costs
Following research which showed that companies could lower their electricity costs for motor driven systems by up to 30 per cent, the European Commission has launched the Motor Driven Systems Challenge (MDSC). The studies were carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for systems and innovation research, and have also shown that the necessary measures needed to lower electricity costs would be profitable in less than three years. Motor driven systems such as pumps, fans or compressors are responsible for around 70 per cent of industrial electricity demand, and for almost 40 per cent in the service and tertiary sector. In the EU, this corresponds to almost 800 billion kilowatt hours per year, costs 56 billion euro, and exceeds Germany's annual electricity consumption. Little has been done to tackle these costs as they are often diluted, being shared among the production, maintenance, purchasing and finance functions. This is why the Commission has introduced the MDSC and is now looking for companies to take part in a pilot phase. Participating firms can profit in three ways: they save electricity and thus associated costs, they can improve the quality and reliability of their motor driven systems at the same time and they can publicly demonstrate their commitment to protecting the environment by using the specially designed logo for their public relations work. Companies agreeing to carry out voluntary measures which will reduce the electricity consumption of their motor systems will also receive support from the European Commission