Additional efforts will be needed by European countries to improve the energy efficiency, as with current trends the 20% objective will be missed. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) manufacturing sector is a promising field, as SMEs are less energy-efficient than larger enterprises....

The paper identifies and evaluates barriers to industrial energy efficiency through the investigation of 48 manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Northern Italy. The research provides interesting suggestions both for enterprises and energy policy-makers. Firstly, economic...

The need to increase the diffusion of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) is of crucial importance to achieve a consistent reduction of energy consumption and green house gases (GHG) emissions. A clear comprehension of the characteristics of such EEMs could assist in gathering and capitalizing all...

Several studies have investigated the barriers to industrial energy efficiency, but few have focused on the most effective means (drivers) to promote the adoption of energy-efficient technologies and practices. In this respect, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have been completely...

Energy management plays an important role in the transformation of industrial energy systems towards improved energy efficiency and increased sustainability. This paper aims to study driving forces for improved energy efficiency in some European energy-intensive foundry industries. The...

This paper uses as its point of departure a hypothesis that support to renewable sources by means of various subsidies, regulatory measures and tax changes is implemented not only in costlier energy, but also (given various new forms of economic pressure) in those areas of human activity that...

The study brings a new approach to the problem of the currently low use of financial rehabilitation methods in Czech economic reality. We examine several aspects of this problem, but consider the main problem to be the fact that entrepreneurial subjects enter into insolvency proceedings with a...

The survey of real outcomes of insolvency proceedings in the Czech Republic analysed by this study took place during 2012 and 2013. This is the first survey that enables (on the basis of a statistically declarative sample) the ascertainment of certain crucial data as to the actual outcome of...

The paper attempts to analyse the effects of the cumulated public sector debt (in this relation essentially government debt and family debt), primarily on the development of the population´s standard of living. In this regard, the paper quantifies the impact of debt on the real standard of...