Keywords
Peak oil, vulnerability and sensitivity analysis, resource
efficiency, sustainable business, cost curve instability,
operations management
Expertise
Oil price rises have a discernible effect on transport-
ation and energy costs, as well as many other aspects
of business operations. Businesses need to reduce their
‘
vulnerability’ to such resource impacts and the University
of Liverpool has developed a methodology and a set of
tools to help them do this.
Our expertise fits into our wider work to develop tools and
methodologies to audit businesses and organisations
(
for example assessing their use of resources, carbon
footprint, etc) and help them gain competitive advantage
through efficiencies, sustainable procurement practices
and sustainable business processes.
Our methodology shows organisations how to prioritise
and target change, perhaps focusing on entire product
ranges or individual products or services, addressing
whole market segments or just individual customers or
production lines. As consultants we work through a five-
stage process: business activities/process modelling;
resource auditing; model analysis; vulnerability mapping;
and comparative scenario testing.
Totnes is the first town in the UK to take oil deple-
tion seriously and prepare for a carbon-constrained,
energy-lean future. With help from the community-led
charity ‘Transition Town Totnes’, local business put
the University of Liverpool’s vulnerability audit to the
test and demonstrated that dwindling supplies and
the spiralling price of oil is not simply an issue for
large companies and multinational giants; businesses
and organisation of all sizes are at risk – but are also
able to reap the rewards of reducing their energy
consumption and oil dependency.
Capabilities and facilities
•
Resource vulnerability analysis
•
Sustainability audit
•
Consultancy on efficiency measures, sustainable
procurement and sustainable business processes
•
Corporate agility and dynamics advice.
78
6.
Mitigation of oil and energy depletion
6.1
Mitigation of oil and energy depletion
APPLICATION AREAS
•
Aerospace and automotive
•
Built environment
•
Civil engineering
•
Defence and security
•
Energy
•
Financial and business services
•
Food supply
•
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
•
High value manufacturing
•
Society and community
•
Sustainability
•
Transport and infrastructure
Also see:
Environment & Climate Change
–
2.1
Building a sustainable future,
page 58
For further information
on all our specialist
centres, facilities and
laboratories
go to page
179
Energy & Sustainability
