Considerations for the selection of an applicable energy efficiency test procedure for electric motors in Malaysia: Lessons for other developing countries

Electric motors are a major energy-consuming appliance in the industrial sector. According to a survey, electric motors account for more than 70% of the total growth from 1991 to 2004 in electricity consumption in this sector in Malaysia. To reduce electricity consumption, Malaysia should consider resetting the minimum energy efficiency standards for electric motors sometime in the coming year. The first step towards adopting energy efficiency standards is the creation of a procedure for testing and rating equipment. An energy test procedure is the technical foundation for all energy efficiency standards, energy labels and other related programs. The test conditions in the test procedure must represent the conditions of the country. This paper presents the process for the selection of an energy test procedure for electric motors in Malaysia based on the country's conditions and requirements. The adoption of test procedures for electric motors internationally by several countries is also discussed in this paper. Even though the paper only discusses the test procedure for electric motors in Malaysia, the methods can be directly applied in other countries without major modifications.     

Energy efficiency developments in the Dutch energy-intensive manufacturing industry, 1980–2003

We studied energy efficiency trends in the Dutch manufacturing industry between 1995 and 2003 using indicators based on publicly available physical production and specific energy consumption data. We estimated annual primary energy efficiency improvements in this period at 1.3% on average, with the individual sub-sectors ranging between −0.1% and 1.5%. Energy efficiency developments with respect to electricity, fuels/heat and non-energy use have been monitored separately and are shown to differ significantly (for the sum of the sectors studied: 1.9% for electricity, 2.6% for fuels/heat and −0.1% for non-energy use). We combined our results with those from a previous, similar study for 1980–1995 and show that over the full time period, efficiency improvements of 1% per year have been achieved on average. Based on comparison with other sources and a detailed uncertainty analysis, we conclude that we developed a reliable top-down monitoring framework for studying energy efficiency trends of the manufacturing industry that can also be applied in other countries where similar data are available. We also showed that substantial differences exist between energy consumption data available from energy statistics and according to the Long Term Agreement monitoring reports, stressing the need for ongoing independent checks of available energy consumption data to avoid problems in future evaluations of energy efficiency policies.     

DES/CCHP系统和区域能源利用效率计算方法及影响因素分析

天然气分布式冷热电联供(DES/CCHP)是中国“十二五”期间提高能效、保障经济发展的重要战略举措,其评价指标是能源利用效率、经济效益、碳排放.DES/CCHP实现高效的技术关键包括:把所有终端用能集成为一个“总能源系统”;科学用能,核心是尽可能减小每一级用能的(火用)损耗;尽可能安排多个冷、热、电、汽终端用户时空分布的最优组合;需要较大的系统规模.新区DES/CCHP系统能效是决定区域总能效的最主要因素,两者的区别在于交通用能、其他用能和外来电力,可在取得相应数据基础上计算得出.计算能源利用效率的一般公式是:能效=终端耗用各种能源总量之和/耗用的一次能源总量,CCHP能效计算的分子必须是全部终端用能,必须按照8650h/a不同负荷逐时累加求和计算,不能取设计工况数据;分母必须全部折算成一次能源.在计算出区域规划的能效、总能耗和一次能源构成后,便可按照规划目标年度的GDP数据,推算出能源强度、碳强度和二氧化碳排放量等低碳发展指标.影响区域能源利用效率的因素包括外部因素——天然气价格与上网电价,客观因素——产业格局、气候条件和实际进展与规划格局的差异,以及主观因素等,其中外部、客观因素是决定能效的硬性约束.     

节能是能源工作者永恒的主题

改革开放20多年来,我国已成为能源生产与消费大国,资源与环境的承载压力越来越大。最近几年全国性缺电拉闸限电,制约着社会经济的发展与人民生活的提高。为实现全面建设小康社会,能源供应只能一半靠开发,一半靠节约。     

Analysis of potential energy saving and CO2 emission reduction of home appliances and commercial equipments in China

China has implemented a series of minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for over 30 appliances, voluntary energy efficiency label for 40 products, and a mandatory energy information label that covers 19 products to date. However, the impact of these programs and their savings potential has not been evaluated on a consistent basis. This paper uses modeling to estimate the energy saving and CO₂ emission reduction potential of the appliances standard and labeling program for products for which standards are currently in place, under development or those proposed for development in 2010 under three scenarios that differ in the pace and stringency of MEPS development. In addition to a baseline “frozen efficiency” scenario at 2009 MEPS level, the “Continued Improvement Scenario” (CIS) reflects the likely pace of post-2009 MEPS revisions, and the likely improvement at each revision step. The “Best Practice Scenario” (BPS) examined the potential of an achievement of international best-practice efficiency in broad commercial use today in 2014. This paper concludes that under “CIS”, cumulative electricity consumption could be reduced by 9503 TWh, and annual CO₂ emissions of energy used for all 37 products would be 16% lower than in the frozen efficiency scenario. Under a “BPS” scenario for a subset of products, cumulative electricity savings would be 5450 TWh and annual CO₂ emissions reduction of energy used for 11 appliances would be 35% lower.     

A review on electricity generation based on biomass residue in Malaysia

Nowadays, biomass is considered as one of the main sources of energy for both developed and developing countries. Malaysia with a large amount of biomass residues as a source of electricity generation is considered as one of the potential countries in this field. This study aims to analyze the potential of recovering energy from major source of biomass residue in Malaysia. For this purpose, the agricultural crop residues and industrial crop waste are investigated. These will contribute substantially to harness a sustainable resource management system in Malaysia to reduce the major disposal problem of biomass residue. The effective use of the waste can supply the required fuel for future electricity generation.     

Potential energy savings and environmental impact by implementing energy efficiency standard for household refrigerators in China

With the rapid economic growth and improvement in standard of living, Chinese people are employing more and more household appliances to make their living convenient and comfortable, of which refrigerators are indispensable. Because refrigerators operate continuously irrespective of seasons and regions, the total electricity consumption of refrigerators is huge and consequently causes severe energy-related environmental issues. China has been paying more and more attention to this and issued a national energy efficiency standard, GB12021.2-2003, for refrigerators. This paper first describes the standard briefly. Then it develops a mathematic model to evaluate the potential energy savings and environmental impacts of the standard. The estimated results indicate implementing the standard will save large energy, as well as benefit greatly to environment. Thus, it is very necessary to implement energy efficiency standard for refrigerators in China.     

Energy efficiency investments in Kraft pulp mills given uncertain climate policy

Energy efficiency measures in pulp mills can potentially reduce the consumption of biofuel, which can instead be exported and used elsewhere. In this paper a methodology is proposed for analysing the robustness of energy efficiency investments in Kraft pulp mills or other industrial process plants equipped with biofuelled combined heat and power units, given uncertain future climate policy. The outlook for biofuel and electricity prices is a key factor for deciding if energy efficiency measures are cost competitive. CO ₂ emission charges resulting from climate policy are internalized and thus included in electricity and biofuel prices. The proposed methodology includes a price-setting model for biofuel that assumes a constant price ratio between biofuel and electricity in the Nordic countries. Thirteen energy efficiency retrofit measures are analysed for an existing Swedish Kraft pulp mill. Special attention is paid to heat-integrated evaporation using excess process heat. Four possible energy market development paths are considered that reflect different climate policies. Pulp mill energy efficiency investments considered are shown to be robust with respect to uncertain climate policy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of renewable and sustainable energy in the energy mix of Malaysia: a review

Energy consumption has risen in Malaysia because of developing strategies and increasing rate of population. Depletion of fossil fuel resources, fluctuation in the crude oil prices, and emersion of new environmental problems due to greenhouse gasses effects of fossil fuel combustion have convinced governments to invest in development of power generation based on renewable and sustainable energy (RSE) resources. Recently, power generation from RSE resources has been taken into account in the energy mix of every country to supply the annual electricity demand. In this paper, the scenario of the energy mix of Malaysia and the role of RSE resources in power generation are studied. Major RSE sources, namely biomass and biogas, hydro‐electricity, solar energy, and wind energy, are discussed, focusing more toward the electrical energy demand for electrification. It is found that power generation based on biomass and biogas utilization, solar power generation, and hydropower has enough spaces for more development in Malaysia. Moreover, minihydropower and wind power generation could be effective for rural regions of Malaysia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Export orientation and domestic electricity generation: Effects on energy efficiency innovation in select sectors

Why are some countries developing many energy efficiency innovations, while others are lagging behind? I argue that export orientation and electricity at low variable cost from nuclear and hydropower plants have an interactive effect on energy efficiency innovation. Export-oriented countries have strong incentives to invest in energy efficiency innovation, as they are in a position to export these technology innovations for global markets. But if inexpensive electricity is supplied in a country, the domestic demand for energy efficiency innovation is missing, and so the home market cannot serve as a springboard for international commercialization. I test this theory against international patent data on energy efficiency innovation in insulation, heating, and lighting for 22 OECD countries, 1991–2007. The statistical analysis indicates that export orientation has large positive effects on energy efficiency innovation in countries that do not rely on nuclear and hydroelectricity.     

Assessing the sustainability challenges for electricity industries in ASEAN newly industrialising countries

Rapid social and economic progress in fast developing countries such that among the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have driven substantial growth in electricity consumption in this region. Whilst this represents significant societal and economic development, it has potentially growing adverse environmental impacts. This raises a concern on sustainable development in the electricity sector in this region. This study evaluates key sustainability challenges in the electricity industries in the five largest energy consumers in ASEAN: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The 3A's energy sustainability objectives: Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability are used as the sustainability analytical framework. This study also draws together a set of associated indicators and criteria within the analytical framework to analyse the status of the electricity industries in these countries. The analysis shows that key sustainability challenges in the ASEAN-5 are attributable to satisfying rapid demand growth; enhancing security of electricity supply; and mitigating the increase in CO₂ emissions from electricity generation. Given the promising resource and technical potential in this region, renewable energy emerges as a favourable option to address these challenges; however, increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity generation requires considerable policy support. This study suggests that there is an opportunity for the ASEAN countries to strengthen regional collaborations through experience and resource sharing to enhance sustainability in the electricity industries. This study also highlights some of the key issues facing the electricity industry, and the need for new generation investment decision support tools which can address these issues.     

Technical-economic aspects of the utilization of geothermal waters

This paper reports on the world energy consumption between 1960 and 1984 from primary energy sources (coal, natural gas, oil, hydropower, nuclear energy) and the same in percentages from 1925. This highlights the diminishing role of coal and the increased consumption of gas and oil. The latter has stabilized around 42% of the total after the drop in demand resulting from the oil crisis of 1973.The world energy consumption has then been divided into industrialized and developing countries. It appears that the latter, with a population equal to 68% of the total world population, consumed 23% of the world energy in 1982. Furthermore, the consumption figures show that the demand for domestic energy is much smaller in developing countries, and it is well-known that domestic energy consumed is one of the parameters used to assess standard of living.The total installed electric capacity throughout the world is then reported, divided between developed and developing countries, showing that the latter consumed 11% of all the electricity generated in the world in 1981. The world installed electric power of geothermal origin at the end of 1985 is shown, along with estimates for 1990. Geothermal energy represents 0.2% of the world electric power. This is obviously a small figure and indicates that geothermal energy plays a minor role on the world energy scene. However, if we distinguish between industrialized and developing countries, we can observe that, with their currently limited electrical consumption but good geothermal prospects, the developing countries could achieve quite a significant contribution to their total electric energy from that of geothermal origin, increasing at the moment from 3 to 19%.Finally, a comparison is made between electricity generating costs of different sources, showing that geothermal energy is competitive. A table illustrates the world evolution in installed geothermal capacity from 1950 to 1985.The non-electric uses of geothermal energy, on the other hand, have a rather insignificant role in both the developing and industrialized countries. It is unlikely that geothermal energy will ever achieve a greater significance in this sector, with a few rare exceptions.     

Long-term trends of electric efficiencies in electricity generation in developing countries

This analysis provides time-series data on electric efficiencies for 138 countries and regions, covering all fossil fuels for the period 1971–2005, with an emphasis on non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Fossil fuel consumption for electricity generation in non-OECD countries now exceeds that in the OECD. The historical performance of the top five non-OECD consumers of each fossil fuel for which reliable data are available is presented and discussed. For each fuel, the countries that lead the world in efficiency are used for benchmarks; bringing the rest of the world up to these standards would result in energy savings of 26 EJ (equivalent to 5% of global energy consumption) and CO₂ emissions reduction of 2.1 Pg (equivalent to 8% of global CO₂ emissions). Coal showed the largest potential margin of improvement for both energy and CO₂, with possible savings equivalent to 3% of current global energy consumption and 5% of global CO₂ emissions. The gap in electric efficiency between OECD and non-OECD countries over the past 35 years has widened for coal-fired generation, stayed relatively constant for natural gas, but has shrunk for petroleum. The results show the very gradual nature of overall efficiency improvements and the significant differences among regions and countries.     

The causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in the ASEAN countries

This paper investigates the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth among the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) 4 members, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, using modern time-series techniques for the period 1971–2002. The results indicate that there is a bi-directional causality between electricity consumption and economic growth in Malaysia and Singapore. This means that an increase in electricity consumption directly affects economic growth and that economic growth also stimulates further electricity consumption in the two countries. However, uni-directional causality runs from economic growth to electricity consumption in Indonesia and Thailand without any feedback effect. Thus, electricity conservation policies can be initiated without deteriorating economic side effects in the two countries.     

Analysis of energy efficiency practices of SMEs in rural Ghana: an application of product generational dematerialization method

Energy is a key input in industrial production, education and health and is one of the main drivers of economic growth in developing economies. However, expanding energy access in the rural areas is one of the key challenges faced by policy makers in developing countries such as Ghana. In this regard, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries face the hydra-headed challenges of energy access, power outages, access to finance and access to market. In some cases, whilst energy efficiency appears to be improving at the national level, the story at the rural areas is different due to overdependence on biomass and other traditional forms of energy and relatively low access compared to urban areas. This research is structured in three steps. In the first step, the product generational dematerialization method is applied to examine the energy efficiency consumption of electricity and fossil fuels. In a second step, the energy efficiency practices of small and medium scale enterprises are investigated. In a third step, the general unrestricted model (GUM) is employed to investigate the relationship between energy efficiency, productivity and carbon emissions. The key findings of the study (i) confirm that the consumption of energy has not been efficient, (ii) show that the reduction in energy consumption among SMEs can be attributed mostly to blackouts and not efficiency and (iii) productivity is a major driver of energy efficiency. In a nutshell, the national analysis shows that improved productivity from more energy-efficient technologies is not responsible for energy reduction. Rather, an analysis of the rural energy situation shows that blackouts render energy reductions unintentionally. Moreover, energy-efficient practices are observed to be nearly non-existent within rural SMEs. The study recommends that public education on energy efficiency is increased and that new appliances rather than second-hand one are used to save energy.     

Energy savings opportunities in the global digital television transition

Globally, terrestrial television (TV) broadcasting is in the midst of a complete transition to digital signals. The last analog terrestrial broadcast is expected to be switched off in the early 2020s. This transition presents huge energy savings opportunities that have thus far been ignored. Digital TV switchovers have likely increased energy consumption as countries have completed transitions by providing digital TV converters to analog TV users, which increase energy consumption and extend the life of energy-inefficient analog TVs. We find that if analog TVs were retired at the time of a digital switchover and replaced with super-efficient flat-panel TVs, such as light-emitting diode (LED) backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, there is a combined electricity savings potential of 32 terawatt hours [TWh] per year in countries that have not yet completed their digital TV transition. In view of these findings as well as the dramatic drops of super-efficient TV prices and the unique early-retirement opportunity resulting from cessation of terrestrial analog broadcasts, TV-exchange programs would easily and substantially advance energy efficiency.     

The relationship between GDP and electricity consumption in 10 Asian countries

The purpose of this study is to estimate the relationships between GDP and electricity consumption in 10 newly industrializing and developing Asian countries using both single data sets and panel data procedures. The empirical results from single data set indicate that the causality directions in the 10 Asian countries are mixed while there is a uni-directional short-run causality running from economic growth to electricity consumption and a bi-directional long-run causality between electricity consumption and economic growth if the panel data procedure is implemented. These empirical findings imply that electricity conservation policies through both rationalizing the electricity supply efficiency improvement to avoid the wastage of electricity and managing demand side to reduce the electricity consumption without affecting the end-user benefits could be initiated without adverse effect on economic growth. The findings on the long-run relationship indicate that a sufficiently large supply of electricity can ensure that a higher level of economic growth.     

Economical and environmental impact of room air conditioners energy labels in Malaysia

The usage of residential electrical appliances for the last two decades has increased rapidly in Malaysia together with the increasing income per capita. Like other developing countries with hot and humid climates, Malaysia has been experiencing dramatic growth in the number of use of air conditioners, and the usage will be higher in the future. In order to reduce energy consumption in the residential sector, the Department of Electricity and Gas Supply considers implementing energy labels for room air conditioners sometime in the coming year. This study attempts to calculate the economical and environmental impact of implementing this program in Malaysia. The study found the savings has exceeded the investment cost and the program has reduced the emissions caused by burning fossil fuel.     

Reducing energy consumption by using self-organizing maps to create more personalized electricity use information

Identification of electricity use is one of the key elements to motivate customers to promote activities leading more efficient use of energy. Furthermore, electricity use comparisons with other similar customers give more interesting and concrete point of view to examine own consumption habits. In future, electricity providers and retailers are willing and probably forced by legislation to provide such information by the means of energy conservation and efficiency improvement. On the other hand, high number of customers set challenges to handle electricity use data and to create proper comparison information. In this study we present efficient and highly automated way to create comparison groups based on customers building characteristics. The main advantages of the data-based approach are that customer location is noticed, comparison groups are created using concrete building information, data processing is highly automated and also method is computationally efficient. Additionally, presented method provide tool to target and to create customer specific electricity saving guidance. The performance of suggested approach was tested using data set which contained electricity use and building information concerning almost 8000 customers.