Energy efficiency
It is well known that every human activity is carried out with the purpose of achieving definite results. These results are considered useful results. It is also well known that for doing an activity, it is necessary to use energy. This is a law of nature whose validity nobody has doubted for a long time. The obvious truth is that the less energy is spent on achieving a definite useful result, the better. Since the existence of rational human activity, specialists have contemplated/explored opportunities for reduction of energy consumption for achieving desirable and they have engaged in elaboration and operation of the specific systems and processes that have to lead to desirable useful results. The natural order of priorities should be achieving the desirable result first, and second, achieving this result with minimum possible energy consumption.
However, there are factors that may confuse not only the laity but also the specialists. Political considerations are one of these factors which change/alter the natural order of priorities. Many examples are known when, because of political reasons, technological solutions, which are not well-founded from energy point of view, are accepted i.e. these solutions lead to the desired by the politicians useful result but at much greater than reasonable energy costs. While these costs may be covered, they are accepted as “natural” and the process continues in the course of many years, without paying attention to the energy consumption since rectification of the problem requires investment in resources, modernisation of equipment, training etc.
Recently (after the oil crisis in 1974), it has become evident that we cannot continue this way. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, political prerequisites were created which gradually but inevitably made us pay attention more and more to the matters related to energy effectiveness.
It is quite obvious that combustion of fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) causes strong damages to the environment (contamination, global warming, etc.). Hence, the Kyoto agreement took place and enforced decrease in the generation of greenhouse gases with definite rates over the next years.
Realising that the consumption of energy is as high as the living standard, it is natural to anticipate increase in the energy consumption on a world scale. The increased energy consumption, in principle, may be covered in two ways: by increasing production and by decreasing the specific expenditure (costs of receiving a unit of result). Actually, both processes are running in parallel. Both processes are similar: investments are necessary as well as an appropriate long-term state policy and participation of the private sector for their implementation. The essential difference between the generation and the consumption is that, while the generation is comparatively concentrated, the consumption is scattered (about 60 per cent of the energy consumption is registered by “small” consumers – households, small enterprises, public utility services, etc.). This lack of concentration in the consumption, although quite natural, makes management of the investments in this area more difficult than management of the investments in the generation area.
During the past years, the necessary statutory prerequisites for management of the investments in the field of consumption have been created in Bulgaria. It should be underlined that the main purpose is decreasing the specific energy consumption while preserving or even increasing the expected useful results. The Energy Act and Energy Effectiveness Act were issued. In addition, the necessary regulations for enforcement of these acts have been issued. The necessary governmental infrastructure has been formed as well in the face of the Ministry of Economy and Energy (or the structure which this Ministry may have within a current configuration of the Council of Ministers), the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, the Energy Efficiency Agency, etc.
Risk Engineering, Ltd., as an entirely private company, takes very clear position on the energy business and maintains it within the system. We fully support the state policy pursued by the Government aimed at increasing the energy effectiveness. Our support is expressed in training and improving personnel qualification, purchasing software and measuring equipment and creating and adopting adequate methods for implementation of the necessary researches, etc. The Company is certified according to the order defined by the Energy Effectiveness Act. At present, it has at its disposal the necessary technical and human resources to implement studies related to energy effectiveness required by the Energy Effectiveness Act or by individual clients.
Furthermore, we have the potential and we intend to expand our activities into rendering energy effectiveness services. In this way, we uphold our commitment to the entire process - from the creation of energy effectiveness programmes by examination of the current state and devising measures for improvement of the energy effectiveness to financing and implementation of these measures as well as subsequent monitoring aimed at achieving continuous improvement of the process and the results. We realise that we are in the beginning of a process which will be running over the course of many years. When this process is guided and managed in an appropriate way, then it would be a contribution to the improvement of the living conditions of the Bulgarian citizens and decreasing the specific energy consumption which means, neither more nor less, that the consumers and our clients will increase the useful results of their activity more quickly than the consumption of energy necessary for achieving these results.