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Energy Monitoring Software

Sainsbury, a large UK supermarket chain, is using software from PA to automate the collection of energy consumption data from its stores as part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2019. While governments discuss carbon emission levels, many companies have already begun reducing emissions and using carbon management software to help meet targets. The market for carbon management software is growing as regulations increase demand for automated monitoring and reporting of energy usage and emissions. Experts predict major software companies like Oracle and SAP will come to dominate the carbon management market, as it closely aligns with their other business software products.

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221 views1 page

Energy Monitoring Software

Sainsbury, a large UK supermarket chain, is using software from PA to automate the collection of energy consumption data from its stores as part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2019. While governments discuss carbon emission levels, many companies have already begun reducing emissions and using carbon management software to help meet targets. The market for carbon management software is growing as regulations increase demand for automated monitoring and reporting of energy usage and emissions. Experts predict major software companies like Oracle and SAP will come to dominate the carbon management market, as it closely aligns with their other business software products.

Uploaded by

Tasbiha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Life is improving for managers at the 2,700 stores of Sainsbury, one of the world's largest supermarket

groups. A program from PA, a big software company, will make a boring job much simpler: collecting data
about each shop's energy consumption, whether from refrigeration, lights or air conditioning. The
automated data collection is part of Sainsbury's plan to reduce by 50% emissions of greenhouse gases
from existing shops by 2019.
Sainsbury and PA may well be pioneers, but they are not alone. While governments discuss levels of
carbon emissions, many companies have already started to make reductions, or are at least preparing to
– leading to more and more software firms offering products to help. If predictions are correct the market
for carbon-management software could soon become as large as those for other important business
applications such as enterprise application software (EAS) programs, a $7 billion market last year.
 Many companies have measured energy consumption for some time in an attempt to reduce running
costs. Other firms have tracked emissions of different types in order to comply with pollution regulations.
In recent times, public pressure has led to more companies publishing emissions data in their annual
reports or to organizations like the Carbon Monitoring Project. However, most firms will need to upgrade
from the basic tools, such as spreadsheets, they have been using.
Things are changing, in spite of the recession, says Jim Scarfe, CEO of Carbon Reduct, a consultancy.
Increased energy costs and new regulations are all pushing companies to monitor their emissions and do
so with appropriate software, he states. In the USA, for example, the Carbon Reduction Plan will come
into force next year. Among other things, it requires firms that use more than 8,000 megawatt-hours of
electricity per annum to evaluate and report the energy they consume.
Expecting an increase in demand, many software-publishers have moved into the market, mostly with
internet-based services. In a recent survey SRP Research, another consultancy, listed no fewer than 183
suppliers.  Some emphasis reporting, others compliance and still others improving business processes.
There are well-established companies, such as Energy Soft and LMG. Many start-ups, such as Carbon
Model and Green Data, have appeared. Even Large software firms like Oracle and IBM have also moved
into the market.
 For the time being, the needs of most firms are simple: making sure that energy data is collected and can
be audited. But in the years ahead, this will change, predicts Susanna Sierra of SRP. Companies will
need software that collects energy data automatically, while helping them to find the best ways to reduce
emissions and allowing them to manage other resources, such as water.
 Scarfe and Sierra both expect that Oracle and SAP, which already dominate most types of business
software, will control the market in this area, too, because it is a good match for their other products.
These giants also have the resources to buy the best technology. In June SAP purchased Green
Standards, a start-up. Oracle is thought to be planning a similar purchase soon. But they have other
rivals. LMG has been buying companies selling environmental software. Some expect great things from
X8, a start-up founded by Jana Novic, who pioneered EAS software.
 All this interest gives an idea of how important the business of monitoring environmental performance is
likely to become. Scarfe recently suggested that in time it could even be as big a market as financial
accounting.

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