Studioguest: Felix Matthes, expert on energy and climate policy

We'll talk about energy efficiency with Felix Matthes of the Öko-Institut in Berlin. DW-TV: The vacuum cleaner-producing company Vorwerk tries to protect the environment by saving energy. How do you keep your carpets at home free of dust? Felix Matthes: With a very efficient device that saves energy and saves money. DW-TV: We’ve shown how the company Vorwerk is setting a nice example. What's your take on their measures - could they be improved? Could they save more energy and reduce costs? Felix Matthes: It’s very difficult to say from a distance. But they raised a key issue – that energy saving is collecting a lot of very different options and opportunities, to combine these and to sum up these decentral options as significant energy and cost savings. DW-TV: Vorwerk is seen as a kind of pioneer in the economical use of raw materials. How do other German companies fare? Felix Matthes: It is very different. We have a pretty broad range of companies which have introduced energy management schemes to support decentral decision-making on energy efficiency measures and to combine processes to raise additional efficiency potentials. However, it’s not the full range of companies but we have some frontrunners. DW-TV: One of the successful industries, the German chemical industry is one of those that's already achieved a lot. Within 18 years, production increased by 43 percent, while at the same time, energy consumption was reduced by 27 percent. That's great. How did they do it? Felix Matthes: There are different sources. Number one is that the structure of the production has changed from very intensive products to much less energy intensive products. The second is that the value added, the chemical industry created has increased very much because of the very high quality of the product. And third, they have implemented energy-efficiency measures in a broad range. And this general trend is a result of these three sources of energy efficiency. DW-TV: In order to implement energy-saving measures you have to invest money: right now, in these days of financial crisis, this is more difficult. Felix Matthes: Yes, but the other side of the coin is that the year 2008 has shown that energy consumption is a source of vulnerability for the companies. So it is a problem at the moment but there are two key sources for energy efficiency: You have to collect your information, you have to remove barriers and then you have to invest. And if you realise investment as an option to decrease future vulnerability then that is a good investment. And I am convinced that many companies are going for this. DW-TV: How do German companies fare in comparison to other European countries? Felix Matthes: It depends on the sector. We have some sectors that are frontrunners in energy-efficiency. Others are more average. So it is very different according to the industrial sectors. (Interview: Monica Jones)

DW-World | August 25, 2009

Tags:. .realise. .jones. .invest. .intensive. .barriers