Current trends in energy supply and use, accompanied by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are unsustainable - economically, socially, and environmentally - according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The U.S. government estimates that GHG emissions will increase by 50% by 2030 and even with energy and fuel efficiency improvements in transportation, buildings, and electric power generation and consumption, emissions will still increase by 35% during this same period. Driven by these trends, corporations are increasingly adopting carbon management tools, both in the form of software platforms as well as professional services designed to aid in carbon accounting practices.
According to a new report from Pike Research, the global market for carbon management grew from $384 million in 2009 to $705 million in 2010, and the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that it will expand further to a $5.7 billion industry by 2017. These figures represent an upgrade to Pike Research's previous forecast published in the first quarter of 2010, which projected that the market would reach $4.4 billion by 2017. One important market driver for this robust growth is because carbon management is directly and indirectly benefitting from the increasing desire among organizations to reduce and manage their energy consumption. Frequently, carbon management is becoming synonymous with energy management.
"Growth in the carbon management market is occurring amidst a turbulent industry landscape in which software vendors and service providers are vigorously jockeying for competitive position," says senior analyst Marianne Hedin. "Pure-play carbon management companies are redefining themselves as 'energy management' providers, and meanwhile large consulting firms and IT services companies, as well as energy service companies and building controls vendors, are expanding their offerings in the space." Hedin adds that, as the carbon management market matures, revenue from services will increase their lead over software purchases as the largest industry segment. She forecasts that services will grow from 55% of the total market in 2010 to 67% by 2017. While consulting and implementation services represent the lion's share of services spending today, spending for outsourcing services will be on par with or exceed the other types of services by 2016.
Source: pikeresearch
