Introduction

Energy book keeping (EBK) is a system to

record,
analyse and
report

energy consumption and costs on a regular basis. Just as financial accounting is used for the effective management of an organisation, energy book-keeping is a key topic for energy management. It is one of the most cost-effective tools companies can use to reduce energy costs.

Before energy costs can be analysed it must be clear which costs really occur within the individual areas of a company. An EBK is the solution as it gives information on

how much energy will be used,
where it will be used and,
what costs occur

Theory

An efficient energy use requires implementation of an energy book-keeping system. Within an energy book-keeping system, all energy relevant data are being systematically collected, documented and regularly up-dated. Depending on the used system, different results from energy book-keeping may be gained.

Industrial companies with high energy consumption in different production processes will have a more complex EBK system in use than SMEs. The system should be able to represent different steps of energy transformation, from the purchase of energy like gas, oil, electricity or heat to the different ways to use this energy, e.g. electricity may be used for driving machines, lighting, air conditioning etc.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be satisfied with a more simple EBK system which represents development of energy use and makes it possible to compare energy performance with other companies from the same branch by benchmarking.

Energy book-keeping is the basis of all energy relevant measures. It aims to control energy consumption and reduce costs by optimising energy performance.

Within the light version of BESS an excel-file giving an example of energy book-keeping for SMEs is introduced.