In a global context of a changing economy, companies looking for new investment opportunities are finding it hard to decide how and where to make their money profitable. However, in the midst of questions and possible doubts, there is a fairly common certainty: the best way to take care of capital is to invest in sectors whose demand is guaranteed by a growing and irreversible need. And this is the case with energy efficiency.
The numbers don’t lie. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand will increase by 30% by 2040, a figure which not only responds to population growth, but also carries a great challenge in itself: that of growing without destroying the future of our planet.
The risk is great and some rules are already very clear. Next year (2020), when the Kyoto Protocol ends, the Paris Agreement will enter into force, a global pact for climate change which establishes measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG).
The work which lies ahead in terms of energy efficiency is huge. In fact, most companies may not yet be aware of the magnitude of the changes they will have to carry out. Reducing the effects of global warming can only be achieved with very strict standards, and that is why commercial and industrial buildings must reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80% by 2050.
The data speak for themselves and some investors seem to have already realised the opportunity which the Paris Agreement can generate. Thus, a study by Mercom Capital Groupshows that in 2018 the financing of energy-efficiency companies obtained 1,500 million dollars through 23 agreements, a figure which was markedly higher than the 384 million received in 2017 through 38 agreements.
In spite of not always being aware of the scale of the necessary changes, more and more companies initiate energy-efficiency projects due to being tempted by the relationship between investment and cost savings, beyond merely complying with the regulations of the Paris Agreement. At Quimera Energy Efficiency we have noticed this increase in the hotel sector, in which we are specialised. The upward trend of this type of projects in luxury hotels shows that beyond the energy benefits, companies are counting on energy efficiency to give a corporate image of leadership and commitment to the environment.
The projects promoted by Quimera Energy Efficiency are also one step beyond energy efficiency. Our strategy is to turn buildings into smart buildings, using the great potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) to collect data and use them properly to optimise the use of connected objects. Not only are we counting on saving the future of our planet by taking care of the environment, but also we do it through the IoT, the technology which, for the first time in History, will connect more objects than people, with all the possibilities that entails.
Energy efficiency is not a passing fad and the Internet of Things (IoT) will come to be the engine of what some are already calling a fourth industrial revolution. Many advances in a short time which will completely change the business landscape. Can there be a better investment than investing in changing and saving the future?
