Using renewable energy gives your business a certain cachet, but don't underestimate the importance of energy efficiency, says Benj Sykes

Let's be honest. In the rush to produce cleaner sources of energy, efficiency is often seen as the poor cousin to breakthrough developments in renewable technologies. This needs to change.

The reasons for investing in efficiency are ever growing. An interesting early sign of this comes from the venture capital community which last year did more deals in energy efficiency than any other cleantech sector in the EU.

But why should you care? The impact of cutting utility bills on your company's bottom line will become increasingly important as energy prices rise. A drive for efficiency now will also help to hedge against likely energy price volatility in the future. Recent changes to the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency scheme announced by the Government mean even more of a financial incentive to reduce carbon emissions for those companies involved. Beyond this, many sectors have committed to improve their energy efficiency in exchange for tax rebates through Climate Change Agreements.

On top of the financial and regulatory reasons to care about energy efficiency, you now need to add the demand from consumers for more environmentally friendly products. Recent research by the Carbon Trust found that 86% of consumers want their favourite brands to reduce their carbon footprint and 43% are actively seeking information about the carbon impact of the products they buy. Whether you're selling the cake or baking the cake, demand for 'greener' goods means re-evaluating energy usage across the entire length of the supply chain.

More>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/carbon-trust-energy-efficiency