TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO MAKE MANAGING YOUR ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES EFFORT EASY

IN 2006 THE AUSTRALIAN Government introduced a mandatory program for businesses purchasing and utilising more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy p.a. The Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) scheme was designed to target 250 of the 1 000 000 Australian companies that consume 60% of the nation’s energy. Even the smallest sugar mill or refinery would substantially exceed the 0.5 PJ p.a. threshold due to the energy released from the burning of bagasse. Consequently the complexities of the EEO Act and its attendant Regulations are an obligation for all sugar mills and corporations, who find themselves gathered into the same fold as large and well-resourced companies like BHP, Alcoa, Rio Tinto and similar entities within the Australian business environment. Finding the time, personnel resources and money to adequately discharge their regulatory obligations has proved challenging for most sugar milling corporations in the first 5-year cycle of the EEO program. This paper seeks to share some handy insights and tools developed within the NSW Sugar Milling Co-Op and demonstrate how small enterprises typical of those within the Australian sugar industry might establish formal, auditable systems to manage this complexity in such a way as to aid the verification process mandated under the regulations.