Energy efficiency in connection with sustainable consumption and local energy supply, in terms of development, represent the most important part of modern society. By new efficient technologies and knowledge, a reduction of global energy consumption by 20% could be reached until 2035 in comparison to 2010, which represents the major unexploited and economically attractive domestic source of energy.
Unfortunately, our everyday life primarily lacks the culture of energy efficiency. It is about the awareness of citizens about the meaning of energy efficiency in working and home environment. Only through this awareness, long-term continuity and the success of energy efficiency programmes can be assured. Any technology and equipment, no matter how efficient they are, do not make sense if there are no people who use them properly.
EUREM, certified training programme, provides energy managers and similar experts with wide knowledge needed for their demanding job and encourages them to mutual cooperation in the framework of European energy managers’ network.
EUREM
In Slovenia, preparatory activities for the delivery of EUREM-European EnergyManager programme started in 2006 as part of EUREM.NET project. The training has been successfully provided by Energy Efficiency Centre since. The EUREM training was developed in Germany in 1997. It is intended for all who wish to gain a comprehensive overview of areas energy managers work on and relevant skills for successful energy management, especially for those responsible for energy management in companies of public and private sector, building managers, plant and process managers, process engineers. Participants obtain skills to: prepare an analysis of company’s internal energy audit, technical and organisational concepts of energy efficiency projects and to manage such projects and provide their adequate presentation to company’s executives, to estimate and assure energy savings as well as constant internal improvements.
Ten EUREM trainings have been carried out so far in Slovenia and 212 European energy managers have successfully finished the training. The joint potential of energy consumption reduction due to the implementation of measures analysed in the projects made by participants during the training is estimated at 310 GWh/year or EUR 19 million annually and CO2 emissions at 132kt/year.
Slovenian energy managers and their projects are very successful on the European level too. They have been awarded several times at regular annual conferences for EnergyManagers. For more information visit https://eurem.si/.
Research
Development of new skills, testing advanced technologies and support to Slovenian industry, which tries to keep up with the global competition, represent the core of our research activities. We are confident that environmental excellence in connection with energy efficiency represents the key element of transition to low-carbon society and in the case of Slovenia, it can become a new momentum for additional economic development. Our research team is interdisciplinary and comprises experts from different research fields (mathematics, engineering, electrical engineering, economics etc.) Modelling complex systems for assessment of environmental impacts, choosing optimal energy strategies, defining key indicators, multi-criteria evaluation of processes and energy development strategies on local and national level are the areas our team works on.
The development of various energy models and algorithms for defining and projecting energy consumption and correct verification of achived savings represent an important part of our research. The results of our research are used for energy efficiency improvement in industry and public sector, emission reduction, rising consumer awareness on energy efficiency and the development of innovative solutions in energy management.