Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that there are three aspects to the matter of energy efficiency. Stating that looking at the situation from a company perspective, markets are inactive both domestically and internationally, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We are not scoring, let’s at least not give any points away. Cost control is more important now than any other time before. One of the biggest costs is energy. In an average company, energy costs make up between 5% and 20% of spending. Average activity profitability of companies in Turkey is around 4%. This means that if companies were to utilize electricity more efficiently, lowering their total costs by about 5%, their profitability would double. In other words, it would be like if they doubled their sales.”

Stating that it is very unlikely that there would be any companies in the world without an energy and sustainability department in ten years’ time, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“They would be pushed out of the market. Just as almost every company has a risk management, human resources, market expansion strategies, a corporate energy strategy will be necessary. Our companies must generate energy and resource consumption strategies.  They must plan out the most suitable energy acquisition strategy to suit their needs as well as optimizing the energy consumption of their operations to ultimately reduce their energy costs.”

- Second in terms of energy demand increase

The second aspect of the issue has to do with Turkey, stated Hisarcıklıoğlu and that the country is the second in the world after China in terms of increase in energy demand in the last decade. Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that over 70% of this demand is met by importing energy, “Last year, we imported 50 billion USD in just energy. Add to this the fact that we utilize the energy we do import very badly. We spend twice the OECD average in energy to produce goods. This makes energy efficiency one of the most pressing issues for Turkey’s future.”

- World losing its ability to replenish itself

Pointing thirdly at the global and humanitarian aspect of the issue, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that humanity has been at war with nature for centuries and that winning only makes it lose.

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Increasing population and urbanization has caused increased demand for natural resources, rising to well above what the natural cycle can provide. Research indicates that the world’s capacity to naturally replenish itself has reached its limits. Each year we consume the total some of that year’s annual produce by August, making up for the rest of the year out of storage.”

Stating that the world is considered to be on the verge of the 4^th industrial revolution, Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed his conviction that the 4^th revolution would not be like those before it, that mechanization and the proliferation of robots has made it unnecessary to have very many people in global production processes.

“I believe that applications of biotech, nanotech and information and communication technologies will change the process of business and production permanently. These technology platforms with the ability to affect many sectors will increase efficiency while lowering carbon emissions.”

- Is Turkey ready for the new industrial revolution?

These developments show that Turkey is not ready for this change, stated Hisarcıklıoğlu and said, “Neither the public or private sectors are ready. We are still stuck on issues from back in the 19^th century; don’t think that the world will wait for us to catch up. We must catch up to the 21^st century with all due haste.” Emphasizing need to focus on biotech, nanotech and information and communication technologies, Hisarcıklıoğlu stressed the importance of technology transfer.

- TOBB’s efforts

Reporting that, in order to provide direction for the private sector, the “Environment and Energy Efficiency Center” was opened last week, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they would be focusing on the issues of energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental strategies on behalf of the private sector.

- Mercan’s message of efficiency

World Energy Council Turkish National Committee Chairman Murat Mercan reported that it is projected that the per capita electricity consumption will increase, emphasizing the need to develop policies regarding efficiency and production.