Identifying the non-technical barriers of energy audits in industries: the EnTRAINER project approach

Towards clean energy transition, companies need to implement measures enhancing competitiveness and sustainability, especially energy efficiency (EE) measures. EE is highly important in energy-intensive industries. However, EE measures within industrial firms are hindered by several barriers. e.g., lack of information regarding EE opportunities, low technical competence, difficulties to finance the measures, etc. Recognizing the need to identify the benefits of the energy transition and to propose solutions to overcome them, the European funded project EnTRAINER aims to introduce an innovative framework to develop a sustainability culture in companies. This will be achieved by introducing an energy transition audit, by improving the auditors and stakeholders’ skills via training and by the development of proper digital tools. Scope of the paper is to address the internal barriers in companies and discuss ways to tackle them by adopting a wide cultural approach towards decarbonisation. Furthermore, the overall EnTRAINER educational and training program, consisting of accredited courses and in-house trainings is discussed.