Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Success Factors and Obstacles

Businesses in 12 European countries were surveyed to identify characteristics that enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to improve energy efficiency or prevent them from doing so. The main findings, as presented in this report, include lack of energy efficiency expertise in SMEs, financing as the main obstacle to energy efficiency investment, greater potential for energy audits and controls, a need to overcome informational barriers, and under-exploitation of renewable energies.