Preface

Now I’m in my early 50s, looking at the generations slowly going by: Parents being about to end their earthly voyage, children kicking-off with vigor and joy. What will last of my generation? Will we be remembered as the ones who spoilt the earth? Being the last generation which had the chance for a turnaround? Will history consider global warming as the worst crime committed ever; fatal, global, and irreversible?

However, we hold in our hands the most powerful tools to turn for the better: the Internet, helping us to feel as cosmopolitans (“citizens of the world”), developing common values in our global village; renewable energy technology, with the potential to assure our living standard and even improve the quality of life with low carbon emissions, political institutions like the United Nations, with the ability to contribute to global governance; drying out tax havens, setting fair terms of trade, or making markets truly work by internalizing social costs; and human rights, democracy, and market system applied globally and according to the classical roots should be our beacon.

You may be a business person in academia or a business manager located anywhere in the world. You probably have a background in business administration, but some of you will be technicians or have another professional background.

Why would you want to read this book? As a practitioner you may be involved in implementing ISO 50001 at your company. This book will help you to do so successfully and smoothly. But if you are looking for a “quick-and-dirty” approach to get the certification with minimum effort, parts of this book will be a waste of time for you. I want to help you to fully tap the strategic potential of energy as a competitive factor—appreciating not only how, but also why to focus on energy performance.

Energy brings together many key focus areas, such as sustainability, IT (Big Data), climate change, and globalization. Understanding this theoretical background is indispensable for the long-term success in a number of branches. Thus, this book is meant for the strategically thinking practitioner and the academic striving for an in-depth understanding.

What do I bring to this subject matter? I work in a country that has undertaken an ambitious energy turnaround, triggering great business innovation. The German Renewable Energy Act, effective since 2000, was taken as a model for legislation in many other countries. Our experience has been that advances in energy management are accomplished more by leading companies implementing energy policies than through academic research. This book is my attempt to continue the discussion I began in “Energy as Function of Business Administration?” published in a German scientific journal. It is my ambition to contribute to this discussion on an international scale, following an approach of applied research.