Measuring the efficiency of energy-intensive industries across European countries

This study evaluates the energy efficiency trends of five energy-intensive industries in 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2000–2009. In particular, the performance of the construction, electricity, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and transport sectors is examined. The analysis is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) combined with the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which allows for distinctions between efficiency and technology changes over time. At the second stage of the analysis, cross-classified multilevel modelling is applied to analyse the main drivers behind efficiency performance using a number of sector and country characteristics. Based on DEA results, an overall improvement in efficiency is observed in all sectors over the period. The decomposition of the MPI indicates that technology change is primarily responsible for the improvements achieved in most sectors. The results obtained by the cross-classified model show, among other things, that the high electricity prices, energy taxes, and market share of the largest generator in the electricity market have a negative effect on industrial energy efficiency.     

Resource of energy efficiency in Russia: scale, costs, and benefits

This paper considers Russian economy-wide energy efficiency potential by sectors and energy carriers. The assessment shows that Russian technical energy efficiency potential exceeds 45% of 2005 primary energy consumption or 294 mtoe (excluding associated gas flaring). This is about the annual primary energy consumption in France, the UK, or Ukraine, half of that in Japan, and over 2% of the global primary energy consumption. Related CO₂ emission reduction potential is 50% of the Russian 2005 emission. Special attention is given to methodological issues in aggregating potentials identified in final energy use and to the evaluation of indirect energy efficiency gains. This study found that the energy efficiency potential doubles, if associated reduction of energy use, as well as technology progress, in energy production and transformation are accounted for. Cost curves for energy efficiency improvements were developed using the incremental cost approach to identify the cost-effective part of the potential.     

Benchmarking the energy use of energy-intensive industries in industrialized and in developing countries

Improved energy efficiency is among the key measures for CO₂ emission abatement in the industry. Energy benchmark curves provide data measured at individual plants and they offer a basis to estimate the sectoral energy efficiency improvement potentials (IP) compared to a best practice technology (BPT) currently in operation worldwide. In this paper, we estimate the BPT energy use of 17 industry sectors based on such curves or energy indicators prepared at country-level. We compare BPT data with current energy use to estimate the IP. According to our analysis, BPT offers improvement potentials of 27 ± 8% worldwide. This is equivalent to 32.5 ± 9.6 EJ (exajoules) of final energy savings worldwide, of which three-quarters can be achieved in developing countries. Due to lack of benchmark curves and limited data availability for developing countries, our results include uncertainties. We used literature data at country-level and international energy statistics to fill data gaps and to develop energy indicators. Quality of these data should be improved and benchmark data needs to be collected for more sectors. By doing so, energy benchmarking could become a key tool to estimate energy saving potentials and energy indicators could serve as strong supplementary methodology.     

Marketing energy efficiency: perceived benefits and barriers to home energy efficiency

Energy efficiency contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the associated mitigation of climate change. The uptake of energy efficiency measures in the residential sector requires significant effort on the part of homeowners or residents. Past research has revealed that cost savings and social interaction motivate energy efficiency behavior. This study expands on this research by examining the hypothesis that there are regional differences in what motivates individuals to implement home energy efficiency upgrades. Two surveys (N?=?320 and N?=?423) examine the perceived benefits of and barriers to undertaking home energy efficiency improvements in varying geographic regions across the USA and test marketing materials that target these benefits and barriers. The hypothesis that there are regional differences in perceptions of energy efficiency was confirmed. Cost savings were found to be the most important benefit to individuals across the country. Energy efficiency being a good investment is either the second or third most important benefit across all regions. Increased comfort is the last of the top three most important benefits to those in the South and Midwest, while those in the Northeast demonstrated interest in the increase in home retail value associated with energy efficiency, and those in the West found the environmental benefits to be important. High costs of energy efficiency improvements were found to be the most commonly perceived barrier. Reported likelihood to enroll in a home energy efficiency program offered by one’s employer was predicted by perceived likelihood that coworkers would enroll, income level, and personal opinions about the importance of energy efficiency.     

Strategic homogenisation of energy efficiency measures: an approach to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs of the quantification of energy savings

With the ongoing efforts on the European level to promote energy efficiency, the need for the development of harmonised evaluation criteria for energy efficiency measures arises. Such criteria will allow extensive comparisons of the success or failure of the implementation of energy efficiency measures throughout Europe and will support the development of a first–best strategy for the realisation of energy savings targets in Europe. Two fundamental evaluation possibilities exist: bottom-up and top-down quantifications of energy savings. Bottom-up calculations give a more detailed view of the impact of energy efficiency measures but are much more costly and time consuming than top-down calculations. In our opinion, this effort can be reduced without losing precision in the savings calculations by the homogenisation of these energy efficiency measures. In this paper, we develop a framework specifying how such a homogenisation could look.     

Benefits of energy efficiency policies in Thailand: an ex-ante evaluation of the energy efficiency action plan

The paper presents the results of an ex-ante evaluation of the economy-wide benefits that may be achieved through the implementation of the 20-year Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP) in Thailand. The objective of the EEAP is to reduce energy intensity by 25 % in 2030 compared to 2010. This is to be reached by reducing the projected energy consumption by 20 % or 38 Mtoe until 2030. We have specified an analytical framework, which allows for a calculation of the overall energy cost savings, energy import cost reductions and reduced CO₂ emissions. Moreover, we calculated the induced energy efficiency investments, employment effects and impacts on governmental budget. The evaluation shows that an effective implementation of the plan may lead to a reduction in energy expenditure of 37.7 billion EUR by 2030. Moreover, the EEAP-induced energy savings will significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions as well as Thailand’s energy import costs and generate private investment in energy efficiency of about 5 billion EUR annually in 2030, which in turn may lead to about 300,000 new jobs. The size of the net impact of the plan on Thailand’s governmental budget is uncertain due to positive and negative effects on corporate and income tax revenues, expenses for unemployment benefits, governmental energy consumption, expenses for energy subsidies and energy tax income.     

European emissions trading and the international competitiveness of energy-intensive industries: a legal and political evaluation of possible supporting measures

The EU Emissions Trading Directive is expected by European energy-intensive industries to harm their competitiveness vis-à-vis non-European competitors. Many additional measures have thus been proposed to ‘level the playing field’ and to protect the competitiveness of European energy-intensive industries within the larger effort of reducing Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and of meeting its obligations under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. This article evaluates a range of proposed measures based on a set of political and legal criteria, including environmental effectiveness; the need to consider differentiated commitments, responsibilities and capabilities; conformity with world trade law and European Union law; and Europe's overall political interests. We discuss measures that could be adopted by the European Union and its member states, such as direct support for energy-intensive industries, restrictions of energy-intensive imports into the European Union through border cost adjustments, quotas or technical regulations, and cost reimbursement for affected developing countries. We also analyse measures available to multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol and the World Trade Organisation. We conclude with a classification of the discussed measures with red (unfeasible), yellow (potentially feasible) or green (feasible) labels.     

Barriers to and drivers for energy efficiency in the Swedish foundry industry

Despite the need for increased industrial energy efficiency, studies indicate that cost-efficient energy conservation measures are not always implemented, explained by the existence of barriers to energy efficiency. This paper investigates the existence of different barriers to and driving forces for the implementation of energy efficiency measures in the energy intensive Swedish foundry industry. The overall results from a questionnaire show that limited access to capital constitutes by far the largest barrier to energy efficiency according to the respondents. A comparison between group-owned and privately owned foundries shows that, except for limited access to capital, they face different high-ranked barriers. While barriers within group owned companies are more related to organizational problems, barriers within private foundries are more related to information problems. This study also found that energy consultants or other actors working with energy issues in foundries are of major importance in overcoming the largest barriers, as the foundries consider them trustworthy. They may thus help the foundries overcome organizational problems such as lack of sub-metering and lack of budget funds by quantifying potential energy efficiency investments. The two, by far, most important drivers were found to be people with real ambition and long-term energy strategies.     

Potential impact evaluation: an ex ante evaluation of the Mediterranean buildings energy efficiency strategy

The building sector is among the largest energy users while offering cost-effective means of reducing energy use. Dynamics of energy efficiency improvements in the building stock are very slow due to the long life span of buildings and barriers such as high investment cost. A list of general policy measures to overcome the barriers to energy efficiency improvements in the Mediterranean (MED) area was proposed by regional experts in the framework of the MARIE project. These measures could be considered as a first draft of the MED buildings energy efficiency strategy. This study assesses the potential impacts of such measures, so as to inform on their effectiveness. The MARIE measures result in larger energy savings than an equally ambitious strategy based on ‘conventional measures’. However, the benefits of MARIE arrive slowly and show large variations among regions depending on the characteristics of their current building stock.     

Assessing the relative efficiency of energy use among similar manufacturing industries

This article presents a methodology to measure relative industrial energy efficiency across plants within a manufacturing sector through the use of energy‐production signatures (EPSs). Linear programming in combination with regression methods, benchmarking and simulation models are used to study the behavior of a representative manufacturing plant. The methodology is validated using data available from the Department of Energy database. The proposed EPSs can be used for proactive benchmarking and diagnostic purposes leading to improvements in energy consumption for individual companies. The results show that the proposed methodology successfully identifies energy and production inefficiencies within a manufacturing segment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of the energy efficiency to produce agroethanol between various industries and processes: Synthesis

The article assesses the energy R required by a system to transform a cereal or sugar plant into ethanol. From the specific consumption r_j of each process j and its weight w_j in the system, process consumption share R_j is deduced and hence R, sum of R_j. Depending on w_j definition, R_j and R are relative to either 100 J of ethanol produced or 100 J of plant harvested. Depending on the nature of r_j, R_j and R represent either only primary external energies, or all fuel and electricity consumed directly, or external and internal energies. From one definition to another R for average sugar cane based industries is the best or the worst relative to other plants. This results also from the use of cane residues as fuels while operating outdated processes. Through r_j the process based analysis allows to examine for each system the impact of modern processes or different use of residues. All systems benefit except sugar beet based industry close to its best efficiency.This flexibility permits even to build a self-sufficient system where existing processes produce from system resources substitutes to external energies. R becomes an unambiguous definition of a system efficiency. It shows that all agroethanol systems are more consuming than petroleum industry. The system can be expanded to the vehicle stage to compare with alternatives to ethanol such as electricity and biogas. Wheat straw burnt to produce electricity used in an electrical vehicle will present R close to that of petroleum industry.     

Industrial electricity demand and energy efficiency policy: the case of the Swedish mining industry

The purpose of this paper is to analyze long-run electricity demand behavior in the Swedish mining industry with special emphasis on the impact of energy prices and private research and development (R & D) on electricity use. Methodologically, we estimate a generalized Leontief variable cost function using a panel data set of nine mining operations over the time period 1990–2005. Since the lower boundary of a set of short-run cost functions confines the long-run cost function, we can compute the long-run own- and cross-price elasticities of electricity demand. The empirical results indicate that long-run electricity demand in the mining industry is sensitive to changes in the own price, and already in a baseline setting Swedish mining companies tend to allocate significant efforts towards improving energy efficiency, in part through private R & D. From a policy perspective, the results imply that taxes (and tax exemptions) on electricity can have significant long-run impacts on electricity use. Moreover, future evaluations of so-called voluntary energy efficiency programs must increasingly recognize the already existing incentives to reduce energy use in energy-intensive industries.     

Experimentation and the evaluation of energy efficiency programs

The use of experiments— particularly randomized controlled trials (RCTs) where subjects are randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions—has rarely been applied to the process of improving the design of energy efficiency programs and, more fundamentally, to determining the net savings from energy efficiency programs. This paper discusses the use of experimentation in the energy efficiency program field with the hope of explaining how these experiments can be used, and identifying the barriers to their use will cause more experimentation to occur. First, a brief overview of experimental methods is presented. This discussion describes the advantages and disadvantages of conducting experiments in the context of the development and evaluation of energy efficiency programs. It then discusses barriers to the use of experimental methods (including cost and equity issues) and suggests some ways of overcoming these barriers. Finally, recommendations are made for implementing key social experiments, discussing the types of energy efficiency programs and issues that can make use of experimentation and variables that one might use for selecting treatments.     

Environmental impact consolidated evaluation of energy systems by an LCA-NETS scheme

The issue of LCA environmental impacts produced from energy systems is presently being discussed; they are directly involved in fossil fuel depletion, global warming, air pollution, rain acidification, etc. In evaluating various kinds of energy systems from the lack concept, an identical standard measure is to be introduced, as there are many different causes for generating environmental loads to the environment and the respective causes have their respective characteristics. Consequently, the authors have proposed an integrated scheme called the ESS (Eco-load Standardization Scheme) to express the amount of environmental load from different causes, using an identical standard based on objective data. This is a ‘Loader–Receiver Tolerant Balance Theory’, which indicates the balance of the maximum tolerance value that the Loader can discharge or consume with the maximum tolerable value by the Receiver. This ESS employs the NETS (Numerical Eco-load Total Standard) as the unit for expressing quantitatively the integrated and standardized environmental load. This LCA-NETS scheme is applied to different energy systems such as various kinds of power plants and co-generation systems, and the LCA evaluations are discussed for further ecological improvement.     

Environmental benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy in Saudi Arabia's electric sector

This paper provides an evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of electric system expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Environmental concerns are important to consider because they represent costs to society that are not typically reflected in the price that consumers pay for electricity. In past analyses of electric expansion options in Saudi Arabia, the tendency has been to stress the direct financial costs of expanding electricity generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure without characterizing the environment impacts of building and operating the expanded electricity system in monetary terms. Emerging national and global environmental concerns, however, suggest that an expansion of the methods traditionally used for electricity resource planning and selection to include environmental considerations would greatly benefit the Kingdom. The criteria by which resource plans are evaluated can readily be broadened to address environmental and other concerns. As part of an illustrative Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) effort undertaken by a team of Saudi utility planners and international consultants, an expanded IRP framework was used to assess the environmental costs and benefits of various approaches to meeting electricity demand projections in Saudi Arabia. The results show that making use of renewable energy and energy efficiency resources to provide energy services to the electricity consumers of Saudi Arabia can provide significant environmental benefits for the Kingdom.     

Markets for energy efficiency: Exploring the implications of an EU-wide ‘Tradable White Certificate’ scheme

Recent developments in European energy policy reveal an increasing interest in implementing the so-called ‘Tradable White Certificate’ (TWC) schemes to improve energy efficiency. Based on three evaluation criteria (cost-effectiveness, environmental effectiveness and distributional equity) this paper analyses the implications of implementing a European-wide TWC scheme targeting the household and commercial sectors. Using a bottom-up model, quantitative results show significant cost-effective potentials for improvements (ca. 1400 TWh in cumulative energy savings by 2020), with the household sector, gas and space heating representing most of the TWC supply in terms of eligible sector, fuel and energy service demand, respectively. If a single market price of negative externalities is considered, a societal cost-effective potential of energy savings above 30% (compared to the baseline) is observed. In environmental terms, the resulting greenhouse gas emission reductions are around 200 Mt CO_2-eq by 2010, representing nearly 60% of the EU-Kyoto-target. From the qualitative perspective, several embedded ancillary benefits are identified (e.g. employment generation, improved comfort level, reduced ‘fuel poverty’, security of energy supply). Whereas an EU-wide TWC increases liquidity and reduces the risks of market power, autarky compliance strategies may be expected in order to capture co-benefits nationally. Cross subsidies could occur due to investment recovery mechanisms and there is a risk that effects may be regressive for low-income households. Assumptions undertaken by the modelling approach strongly indicate that high effectiveness of other policy instruments is needed for an EU-wide TWC scheme to be cost-effective.     

Imperfect market,emissions trading scheme,and technology adoption: A case study of an energy-intensive sector

It is widely accepted that the firms included in an emissions trading scheme (ETS) come mostly from oligopolistic industries. The “exclusionary manipulation” of these heterogeneous emitters can distort both output and permit markets and lead to differences in abatement technology adoption. We studied the impacts of asymmetric firms' market power on the diffusion of abatement technologies. A model for technology adoption among heterogeneous firms has been established, which takes into account diversity in production capacity and the integration of firms' strategic behaviour in both the carbon permit and the output markets. Our model reveals that, considering the direct and strategic effects in adoption benefits, firms' production capacity can directly determine their sequence order of adoption, and their market power can accelerate the diffusion of a new abatement technology. A case study of an energy-intensive sector in China is illustrated to support the conclusions derived from the model and help policymakers better understand the diffusion of abatement technologies under imperfect market structure.     

Comparison of the energy efficiency to produce agroethanol between various industries and processes: The transport stage

The different modes of transport used in the agroethanol industry and their energy efficiencies have been studied. Their specific consumption of fuels t_trans in MJ (t_load km)⁻¹ is assessed from raw data and from friction force laws. t_trans depends on the mode characteristics, fuel/engine performance, velocity, geometry, total mass, actual load… Lack of precision on them increases the uncertainty on t_trans (variation by a factor up to 8 for pipeline depending on the flow velocity).From t_trans is deduced the consumption of the mode in the industry R_trans in J for 100 J of the energy content of ethanol E_etoh produced from the load. R_trans takes also into account the distance of shipment d and the weight of the load in E_etoh, w_load. Trucks, t_trans from 7 to 1.4 MJ(tload·km)⁻¹, can present the best R_trans, lower than 0.5 J for 100 J of ethanol, because of trips over small d (less than 100 km) and of low w_load (less than 0.04  for farm inputs and ethanol). R_trans of the plant transport to the factory by trucks ranges to 3 J due to larger w_load (up to 0.56  for sugar cane). Large part of the ethanol is moved from the factory to the local storages over 1000 km more or less depending on the proximity of consumption centers. Efficient modes such as pipeline and sea ships, t_trans as low as 0.05 MJ (t_load·km)⁻¹ when optimized, can compensate for these distances with R_trans around 1 J. R_trans to export ethanol from Brazil to France would represent less than 5 J, much lower than the difference of consumptions R between sugar cane and sugar beet based ethanol productions.     

Searching for hidden costs: A technology-based approach to the energy efficiency gap in light-duty vehicles

The benefit-cost analysis of standards to reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) displays large net benefits from fuel savings for new vehicle buyers. This finding points to an energy efficiency gap: the energy-saving technology provided in private markets appears not to include all the technologies that produce net private benefits. The gap exists if the costs of energy-saving technologies are lower than the present value of fuel reductions, and “hidden costs” – undesirable aspects of the new technologies – do not exceed the net financial benefits. This study examines the existence of hidden costs in energy-saving technologies through a content analysis of auto reviews of model-year 2014 vehicles.Results suggest that it is possible to use fuel-saving technologies on vehicles without imposing hidden costs. For each technology examined, reviews with positive evaluations outnumbered those with negative evaluations. Evidence is scant of a robust relationship between vehicles’ use of energy-saving technologies and negatively rated operational characteristics, such as handling or acceleration. Results do not provide evidence for hidden costs as the explanation of the efficiency gap for vehicle fuel-saving technologies.     

Stagnating energy efficiency in the Swedish building sector—Economic and organisational explanations

The development towards higher energy efficiency in the Swedish building sector stagnated in the late 1980s and 1990s. In new buildings the average specific energy use for heating is twice as high as in the best performing buildings 20 years ago. By combining econometric studies and interviews with actors in the building sector we analyse the underlying economic and organisational causes for this development. In the stock of buildings, specific energy use for heating (kWh/m²/yr) has a high correlation with increasing energy prices and price elasticities have not changed markedly over time. This implies that the stagnation to a large extent can be explained by energy price trends. On the contrary, in new buildings the correlation between energy prices and specific energy use is much weaker. One important cause of low sensitivity to price changes is that information about the life cycle cost (LCC) of different investment alternatives is often not available to the involved actors. The most common investment criterion is instead the requirements of the national building energy standard which has developed into a norm rather than a minimum for energy performance. In this paper we also discuss potential improvements in the learning processes within the sector.