Nobody wants a warm beer. But when it comes to global warming, one of the world’s biggest beer makers, Anheuser-Busch, plans to get all of its electricity from renewable resources by 2025 – a tall order for the 6 terawatt hours it tends to command from fossil fuels and other sources. For comparison purposes, 6 terawatt hours would power the country of Spain for a month! Busch recognizes a critical truth that every business must grapple with – saving energy is great for the bottom line, too.
Busch plans to source energy in a variety of ways, including building a 220 megawatt wind farm near its facilities in Mexico to help supply power. But what if you are not able to create your own wind stream? There are lots of other ways to make your business more climate friendly while also adding to your bottom line. Here are a few ways to explore how you can save more.
Find your “leaks.” Sure, if there is a water leak, that’s costly and easy to spot. But how much raw material are you burning off because of the way the machines mix or process the ingredients?
Identify the key processes. Are some pieces of equipment more vital than others? Of course. But what happens inside is even more important. Get specific. Are you mixing multiple streams of materials and not getting the results you want? There is your pain point.
Energy loss. Don’t assume that the energy output you are used to seeing is what you have to stand for. Sometimes a quality design can greatly reduce the amount of energy needed to complete a procedure and will pay for itself many times over.
As it turns out, what is good for the business is good for the environment as well. Fighting energy loss is a bottom line practice that benefits everyone.