Where investment opportunities are concerned, too often energy saving is forgotten.
Priority is given to equipment which either increases output or reduces labour or material costs.
Energy costs, because frequently they are considered to be an overhead, are often ignored when considering ways of investing to improve competitiveness. Yet reducing energy costs can be an important way of reducing costs, and increasing profitability and competitiveness. And of course there are powerful environmental reasons for considering energy efficiency as a priority. Of course, investment goes where it will yield the biggest returns. But energy efficiency need not be the poor relation when it comes to investment.