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Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry recognise Young Energy Scouts in German and European companies
By developing practical solutions in-house, Energy Scouts become active agents in stepping up climate action in Germany and eight other European countries. This commitment was recognised today in Berlin by Stefan Wenzel, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Achim Dercks, the Deputy Managing Director of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry. They presented awards to the three best Energy Scout teams for 2023 and to 18 European teams for their efficiency projects at a joint event hosted by the Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz (“Corporate network for climate action”) and Young Energy Europe.
Every year, nearly 60 chambers of industry and commerce offer Energy Scout training to over 1,000 individuals in German companies. In a similar vein, last year eight German chambers of industry and commerce abroad trained 210 European Energy Scouts as part of the Young Energy Europe Project funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). The trainees and young professionals complete a crash course in energy efficiency, after which they implement a specific energy conservation project. The best projects are selected annually via a competition and the Scouts are invited to Berlin.
Achim Dercks, the Deputy Managing Director of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, praised the important work the Energy Scouts are undertaking for their companies, “Their expertise means the Scouts are in higher demand than ever before! This is because companies are facing the urgent challenge of implementing a growing number of climate change mitigation measures. The Energy Scouts will take with them from their training an open eye for potential savings, a basic technical understanding of energy and resource efficiency, and the skills to initiate measures for improvement. They thus make a real contribution to the energy efficiency of their companies.”
Stefan Wenzel, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said, “The Energy Scouts demonstrate the transition towards climate neutrality is also succeeding at a microlevel and that undiscovered potential for energy savings exists in every company. Every kilowatt hour of energy saved helps us get closer to achieving our climate targets and at the same time, reduces the cost pressure on companies. The Energy Scouts prove how energy efficiency and climate change mitigation within companies can be approached in a committed and ambitious manner.”
This year’s Energy Scouts in Germany winners
A total of 41 teams in Germany qualified in regional rounds for the nationwide award and competed for a place on the winners’ podium in three categories. The nominated Energy Scouts alone presented a total of more than 5,000 tonnes of CO2 in annual savings potential.
In the Small Companies category, WEBER Verpackungen GmbH, which is based in Wickede (Ruhr) and is a member of the Arnsberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, impressed the jury with a project that reduces the demand for compressed air using automatic shutdown. Through this measure, the company makes annual savings of a total of 20.4 tonnes of CO2 and 49.5 MWh.
In the Medium-sized Companies category, Memmert GmbH & Co. KG, based in Schwabach (Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce/Academy of the Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce), came out on top by optimising the ventilation control of climate chambers. The installation of a temperature-controlled fan reduces their running time to around 13% and thus saves 59.58 MWh of heat energy and 19.31 tonnes of CO2 a year.
In the Large Companies category, Isringhausen GmbH & Co. KG, based in Lemgo and of the Lippe Detmold Chamber of Industry and Commerce, won with an energy savings project that focuses on its continuous furnace. A single sheet is used for batch mixing and thus doubles the capacity of the production process. This enables savings of 209 MWh and 42 tonnes of CO2.
European Energy Scouts advance cross-border climate action
In 2022, the 210 European Energy Scouts representing 84 companies identified a potential reduction of greenhouse gas emissions amounting to around 34,000 tonnes of CO2 a year within their enterprises. This results from potential savings in operational processes of around 47,000 MWh of electricity and vast quantities of fossil fuels and resources like drinking water. The awards ceremony for the best 18 Energy Scout teams was the highlight of the three-day networking event in Berlin.
Background information:
On the Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz: This corporate network for climate action comprises 600 companies of various sizes and across different sectors that work together to advance corporate climate action. The core is a platform for dialogue between companies that functions in a similar way to a social network and provides the option of forming specialised and regional groups. In cooperation with the German chambers of industry and commerce, the network also provides participants with the training to become Energy Scouts, the chambers’ of industry and commerce certificate programme in corporate mobility management, and climate action coaching that serves as a launchpad for companies. Furthermore, ecocockpit, the tool used for calculating CO2 emissions and developed by the energy agency NRW (EFA), was recently made available on the network’s platform to its members free of charge.
For more information on the Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz, please visit the website:
Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz (in German only) (klima-plattform.de). The Unternehmensnetzwerk Klimaschutz is a project of the chambers of industry and commerce and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action within the framework of the National Climate Action Initiative (NKI). The project management agency is DIHK Service GmbH.
On Young Energy Europe: The bilateral chambers of industry and commerce abroad offering training for young professionals to become Energy Scouts have included those in Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece and Hungary since 2018, and those in Croatia, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia since 2021. To date, 843 Energy Scouts have completed the training. It is thus possible to cut emissions by over 106,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. The focus of operational energy saving and efficiency measures is mainly on photovoltaic projects, followed by lighting measures and the optimisation of compressed air systems.
The Young Energy Europe project is funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). The European Climate Initiative is a financing instrument of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
