Green Success Stories sits down with Simon Jennings, Marketing Director at Best.Energy, to learn how they are utilizing data and internet of things to beat climate change.
Simon, thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I’m Marketing Director at Best.Energy and have worked in that role for the last three years or so. I spent six years running a digital marketing agency before joining – lured by the mission that we’re on and the culture at the company. Haven’t looked back!
What is a fun fact about you?
I learned to fly (single engine glider) before I learned to drive!
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
Such a range of reasons! First and foremost, we are rapidly approaching the point of no return on climate change and we’re already seeing the kind of catastrophic weather events that will accompany that. The human impact is very real, making the need for solutions more pressing than they’ve ever been. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from recent events in the Ukraine, it’s that energy security – and energy independence – is also a pressing concern. Rapid adoption of energy efficiency strategies and transition to renewable energy and energy storage are now key national objectives.
We’ve been in the energy efficiency sector for over fifteen years now and we’ve never seen take-up in the market like it is today. Particularly in the wake of COP26 and with the inexorable rise of Net Zero, energy is squarely in the middle of the agenda right now.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
Statista data indicates the energy management sector will double in size over the next five years ($8.2bn to $16.3bn), let alone 10! The sky is the limit over the next decade. A large and increasing number of businesses have set serious net zero targets for 2030, so we’re expecting to see an acceleration of new technology adoption towards that date. Ultimately, energy monitoring and reduction are the first two steps of any sensible net zero program so the energy management sector will have to grow significantly to meet that demand.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
At Best.Energy, we’re all about efficiency. It is, after all, the ‘first fuel’ – the cheapest kWh of all, is one we save – not one we produce. So the average person can make a huge difference. It’s all about maintaining outcomes, but using less energy to do it – which in many cases revolves around eliminating waste. Simple things like turning lights off, moderating heating settings, using the dishwasher and the washing machine more sparingly, are all within the reach of a normal person. The collective difference those habits can make, multiplied over many millions of people, is massive.