Estimating the potential CO2 mitigation from agricultural energy efficiency in the United States

Energy efficiency in agriculture is an underanalyzed aspect of a potential climate change mitigation strategy. According to the Fourth Assessment Report, experts report only medium agreement and medium evidence that energy efficiency can provide substantial reductions (Smith et al. 2007). This paper estimates the CO₂ mitigation potential achievable through improvements in energy efficiency in the US agriculture sector. The data are presented in three formats: the cost data or break-even points of each technology, a marginal abatement supply curve expressed in terms of reduction in energy use by fuel category, and a marginal abatement supply curve expressed in terms of CO₂ emission reductions by fuel category. The largest sources of energy use in the sector were identified as motors used in irrigation systems or other pumping operations; farm machinery such as tractors used in daily farm operations; and space conditioning, such as HVAC systems for livestock and crop-drying systems.

Potentials and costs of carbon dioxide mitigation in the world's buildings

Buildings are responsible for over a third of global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. A significant share of these emissions can be avoided cost effectively through improved energy efficiency, while providing the same or higher level of energy services. How large is this emission reduction potential globally and how much will it cost for society to unlock it? This paper provides answers to these questions, presenting the results of bottom-up research conducted for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), based on the assessment of 80 country- or regional-level mitigation studies throughout the world. First, the paper analyses the findings of these studies in a common framework. Then, it aggregates their results into a global estimate of CO₂ mitigation potential. The paper concludes that by 2020 it is possible to cut cost effectively approximately 29% of buildings-related global CO₂ emissions, the largest among all sectors reported by the IPCC, representing a 3.2 GtCO₂eq. reduction. Developing countries house the largest cost-effective potential with up to 52% of building-level emissions, whereas transition economies and industrialised countries have cost-effective potentials of up to 37% and 25%, respectively. Energy-efficient lighting was identified as the most attractive measure worldwide, in terms of both reduction potential and cost effectiveness. If this potential is realised, the building-related CO₂ emissions would stay constant over 2004–2030. These stabilisation levels (if achieved by all other sectors) would cancel about 3°C temperature increase over the projected period of time.     

Policy progress in mitigation of climate change in Taiwan

To make an active contribution to the global effort in mitigation of climate change, Taiwan government has implemented the “Frameworks for Sustainable Energy Policy—An Energy-Saving and Carbon-Reduction Action Plan” in June 2008. It has made a commitment of a stepwise reduction of nationwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which returns the nationwide GHG emission to 2008 levels by 2020, then reduces to 2000 levels by 2025, and finally cuts 50% of 2000 levels by 2050. The fundamental strategy is to reduce the GHG emission under acceptable economic development and energy security to achieve generation-spanning triple-win in energy, environment and economy. The major policy instruments such as “Statute for Renewable Energy Development”, “GHG Reduction Law (draft),” “Regulation for Energy Tax (draft),” and “Energy Management Act” have been either implemented or scheduled for legislative reviewing. The purpose of this paper is to present an updated review of the outcomes of GHG emission reduction in Taiwan. In addition, the progress and priority of policy instruments in GHG emission reduction are analyzed as well.     

Structural change and energy efficiency in industry

The change in the ratio of energy consumed to industrial production is examined over the years 1968–1980. Changes in the composition of industry are analysed, creating a better picture of movements in physical efficiency of energy use. The medium-term trends show the significance of the 1973 oil crisis, the effects being contrary to those of intuition. The implications of the two recessions for efficiency and industrial structure are described in detail. The role of demand, often relegated to an incidental consideration, is brought to the fore. In the years following 1973 it appears more important than ex post substitution in production, and with this comes a particular implication for the use of aggregate production functions.     

The role of nuclear energy in Lithuania under various post-Kyoto climate change mitigation regimes

The article aims to evaluate the potential role of nuclear energy in Lithuania under various post-Kyoto climate change mitigation regimes. Seeking to achieve this target the analysis of possible energy sector development scenarios in Lithuania was performed and CO₂ emission projections for these scenarios were developed. The analysis of post-Kyoto climate change mitigation architectures was performed and the requirements of these possible climate change mitigation regimes for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in Lithuania were assessed. Based on these assessments the potential role of new nuclear power in Lithuania was identified under various future climate change mitigation regimes.     

Energy intensities and greenhouse gas emission mitigation in global agriculture

Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions are closely linked. This paper reviews agricultural options to reduce energy intensities and their impacts, discusses important accounting issues related to system boundaries, land scarcity, and measurement units and compares agricultural energy intensities and improvement potentials on an international level. Agricultural development in recent decades, while increasing yields, has led to lower average energy efficiencies when comparing the 1960s and the mid 1980s. In the two decades thereafter, energy intensities in developed countries increased, but with little impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Efficiency differences across countries in the year 2000 suggest a maximum improvement potential of 500 million tons of CO₂ annually. If only below average countries would increase their energy efficiency to average levels of the year 2000, the resulting emission reductions would be below 200 million tons of CO₂ annually.

A multi-criteria evaluation of policy instruments for climate change mitigation in the power generation sector of Trinidad and Tobago

Even as small island developing states (SIDS) like Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) increase industrialization and grapple with the challenges of increased pollution, few studies provide guidance to policy makers of such countries on appropriate policy measures and instruments that can be implemented to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Here we apply a multi-criteria evaluation methodology to ascertain preferences for policy measures and instruments in the power generation sector. Four broad policy measures and twelve policy instruments are assessed on criteria of environmental performance, feasibility of implementation and political acceptability. This method proves useful in T&T, since typical to many SIDS, the intensive data required by other policy assessment methods is unavailable. Results indicate little difference in preference among the four policy measures thereby indicating that a multi-pronged approach on several policy fronts is required. The most preferred policy instruments to operationalize measures included provision of subsidies for energy saving technologies, creating an industry wide carbon trading scheme and implementing a feed-in tariff to increase the use of renewable energy sources. This study therefore provides specific insights for policy makers in Trinidad and Tobago while also providing power generation sector specific guidance to other rapidly industrializing small island developing states.     

The potential for greenhouse gases mitigation in household sector of Iran: cases of price reform/efficiency improvement and scenario for 2000–2010

Iran's demographic profile is sharply youth oriented and this upcoming generation's needs for employment and housing, coupled with low-energy efficiency vectors and consumption patterns, has created a constant rise in energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions in the residential sector. Improved energy efficiency as a national policy lynchpin for demand reduction and GHGs mitigation, has become commonplace. OPEC countries however, Iran included, suffer an obvious lack of consumer incentive because of low fuel prices. This study evaluates the twin impacts of price reform and efficiency programs on energy carriers’ consumption and GHGs mitigation in the Iranian housing sector. For this purpose, the demand functions for energy carriers, has been developed by econometrics process models.     

The importance of advancing technology to America’s energy goals

A wide range of energy technologies appears to be needed for the United States to meet its energy goals. A method is developed that relates the uncertainty of technological progress in eleven technology areas to the achievement of CO₂ mitigation and reduced oil dependence. We conclude that to be confident of meeting both energy goals, each technology area must have a much better than 50/50 probability of success, that carbon capture and sequestration, biomass, battery electric or fuel cell vehicles, advanced fossil liquids, and energy efficiency technologies for buildings appear to be almost essential, and that the success of each one of the 11 technologies is important. These inferences are robust to moderate variations in assumptions.     

Industrial energy efficiency: the need for investment decision support from a manager perspective

Global competition, commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and a deregulated, integrated European electricity market will in all probability increase the demand for energy efficiency on the part of companies in Sweden. Investment decisions are an important part of meeting the new demands, because they decide the future efficiency of industrial energy systems. The objective of this study is to investigate, from a managerial perspective, the need to improve decision support in some industries, which can help to facilitate and improve investment decisions concerning energy efficiency. This work has been conducted through in-depth interviews with representatives for a number of energy-intensive companies and non-energy-intensive companies from different sectors. One need that was identified was the improvement of working methods in order to support the decision-making process. Here, external players seem to be playing an increasingly important role. Access to correct information, better follow-up activities, and transparent, understandable calculations are also considered to be important. The study will form the foundation for subsequent work on decision support and energy efficiency in industry.     

Prioritizing investment in residential energy efficiency and renewable energy—A case study for the U.S. Midwest

Residential building energy use is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in the United States represents about 20% of total energy consumption. A number of previous macro-scale studies of residential energy consumption and energy-efficiency improvements are mainly concerned with national or international aggregate potential savings. In this paper we look into the details of how a collection of specific homes in one region might reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, with particular attention given to some practical limits to what can be achieved by upgrading the existing residential building stock. Using a simple model of residential, single-family home construction characteristics, estimates are made for the efficacy of (i) changes to behavioral patterns that do not involve building shell modifications; (ii) straightforward air-infiltration mitigation measures, and (iii) insulation measures. We derive estimates of net lifetime savings resulting from these measures, in terms of energy, carbon emissions and dollars. This study points out explicitly the importance of local and regional patterns in decision-making about what fraction of necessary regional or national emissions reduction might be accomplished through energy-efficiency measures and how much might need to concentrate more heavily on renewable or other carbon-free sources of energy.     

A comparative study of energy consumption and efficiency of Japanese and Chinese manufacturing industry

The industrial sector consumes about 50% of the world׳s delivered energy and thus has a large impact on the world׳s energy production and consumption. Japan is one of the leading countries in industrial efficiency while China is the world׳s largest industrial energy consumer. This study analyzes the energy consumption and efficiency of the Japanese and Chinese manufacturing industry. Analysis shows that the energy intensity of both Japanese and Chinese manufacturing industry has decreased significantly. Decomposition analysis shows that the efficiency effect played an important role in reducing energy intensity; improvement of the energy efficiency of both Japanese and Chinese manufacturing industry showed a trend of exponential decay. Structural effect significantly reduced the energy intensity of the Japanese manufacturing industry while having a relatively small influence on the energy intensity of the Chinese manufacturing industry. Our analysis also shows a strong association of industrial energy efficiency improvement with energy policies, highlighting that energy efficiency policies can play an important role in the reduction of industrial energy intensity. The results of this study also underscore the important, yet very challenging, task of achieving structural change to further improve efficiency.     

Implementation of energy efficiency projects by Dutch industry

As potentials for energy savings are huge, industry can provide a major contribution to energy savings goals. This paper focuses on the energy savings realized under the Dutch voluntary agreements in the period 2001–2011. Participants in these schemes are obliged to plan and implement all measures with a payback period of less than 5 years. This paper shows how many of these projects have been implemented and how much savings they generate. Our findings show that large differences exist in the realized savings between individual companies. There is however no significant difference in savings observed between companies that participate in the Emission Trading System (ETS) and companies that do not. Although it is impossible to disentangle the drivers behind the implementation of these projects, the amount of savings suggest that at least part of them was implemented because of different energy policy instruments.     

Energy efficiency and the cost of GHG abatement: A comparison of bottom-up and hybrid models for the US

A highly influential report by the McKinsey consulting firm suggests that a large potential for profitable energy efficiency exists in the US, and that substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions can therefore be achieved at a low cost. This result is consistent with other studies conducted using a bottom-up methodology that dates back to the work of Lovins beginning in the 1970s. Research over the past two decades, however, has identified shortcomings with the conventional bottom-up approach, and this has led to the development of new analytical frameworks that are referred to as hybrid energy–economy models. Using the CIMS hybrid model, we conducted simulations for comparison with the McKinsey results. These exercises suggest a more modest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a given marginal cost, as well as a smaller contribution from energy efficiency relative to other abatement opportunities such as fuel switching and carbon capture and storage. Hybrid models incorporate parameters reflecting risk and quality into their estimates of technology costs, and our analysis suggests that these play a significant role in explaining differences in the results.     

Designing building energy efficiency programs for greenhouse gas reductions

Costs and benefits of building energy efficiency are estimated as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Pittsburgh, PA and Austin, TX. The analysis includes electricity and natural gas consumption, covering 75% of building energy consumption in Pittsburgh and 85% in Austin. Two policy objectives were evaluated: maximize GHG reductions given initial budget constraints or maximize social savings given target GHG reductions. This approach evaluates the trade-offs between three primary and often conflicting program design parameters: initial capital constraints, social savings, and GHG reductions. Results suggest uncertainty in local stocks, demands, and efficiency significantly impacts anticipated outcomes. Annual GHG reductions of 1 ton CO₂ eq/capita/yr in Pittsburgh could cost near nothing or over $20 per capita annually. Capital-constrained policies generate slightly less social savings (a present value of a few hundred dollars per capita) than policies that maximize social savings. However, sectors and end uses targeted for intervention vary depending on policy objectives and constraints. Optimal efficiency investment strategies for some end uses vary significantly (in excess of 100%) between Pittsburgh and Austin, suggesting that resources and guidance conducted at the national scale may mislead state and local decision-makers. Results are used to provide recommendations for efficiency program administrators.     

Placing barriers to industrial energy efficiency in a social context: a discussion of lifestyle categorisation

This paper compares how analyses of energy use and efficiency have developed in households and industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). I focus on earlier studies that use lifestyle categories in examining household energy use, comparing them with studies of mainly Swedish industrial SMEs using the barrier concept in understanding energy efficiency. The main question is how the use of lifestyle categories in household research can be adapted to industrial SMEs. The rationale for using doing this is to find a new way to approach industrial energy use that can give new insight or raise new questions. Lifestyle categories capture the energy culture of a company, including how energy is perceived and what habits and routines are like. Lifestyle categorisation complements barrier analysis, deepening our understanding of how and why companies improve energy efficiency. Using lifestyle categories in an analysis can help policy makers, who can then direct specific policies to particular segments of companies.     

Popularizing household-scale biogas digesters for rural sustainable energy development and greenhouse gas mitigation

Biogas utilization has undergone great development in rural China since the government systematically popularized household-scale biogas digesters for meeting the rural energy needs in the 1970s. In order to comprehensively estimate the significance of biogas utilization on rural energy development and greenhouse gas emission reduction, all types of energy sources, including straw, fuelwood, coal, refined oil, electricity, LPG, natural gas, and coal gas, which were substituted by biogas, were analyzed based on the amount of consumption for the years from 1991 to 2005. It was found that biogas provided 832749.13 TJ of energy for millions of households. By the employment of biogas digesters, reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) was estimated to be 73157.59 Gg CO₂ equivalents (CO₂-eq), and the emission by the biogas combustion was only 36372.75 Gg CO₂-eq of GHG. Energy substitution and manure management, working in combination, had reduced the GHG emission efficiently. The majority of the emission reduction was achieved by energy substitution that reduced 84243.94 Gg CO₂, 3560.01 Gg CO₂-eq of CH₄ and 260.08 Gg CO₂-eq of N₂O emission. It was also predicted that the total production of biogas would reach to 15.6 billion m³ in the year 2010 and 38.5 billion m³ in the year 2020, respectively. As a result, the GHG emission reductions are expected to reach 28991.04 and 46794.90 Gg CO₂-eq, respectively.     

Preconditions and tools for cross-sectoral regional industrial GHG and energy efficiency policy—A Finnish standpoint

The aim of this paper is to develop an approach and tools for cross-sectoral regional industrial GHG and energy policies. These policies can be conducted at different levels of society. To achieve real results in energy efficiency improvements and in GHG reductions, the policies must be focused on the correct levels in society. In Finland, the province level seems to be a reasonable level for a policy targeted at industry. This paper proposes a category for the ways industry uses energy: building energy users, major users of electricity for process/production, major users of heat for process/production and direct combustion users. This approach gives opportunities for developing regional cooperation among different industries. The approach is also important between industries and society, so that there are integrated solutions which e.g. utilise district heating and biofuel potentials. The individual technologies like electric motors, pumps, fans, heat recovery equipment and boilers do not seem to have any significant potentials for improvements in energy efficiency by the EU target year 2020. However, there are opportunities but they are at system levels: how effectively the individual technologies are applied as a part of industrial systems. This fact supports the idea of energy use categorising.     

Review of policies and measures for energy efficiency in industry sector

Energy efficiency in industry plays key roles in improving energy security, environmental sustainability and economic performance. It is particularly important in strategies to mitigate climate change. The evidence of great potential for cost-effective efficiency-derived reductions in industrial energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have prompted governments to implement numerous policies and measures aimed at improving their manufacturing industries’ energy efficiency. What can be learned from these many and varied initiatives? This paper provides foundation for policy analysis for enhancing energy efficiency and conservation in industry, by surveying more than 300 policies, encompassing about 570 measures, implemented by governments in IEA countries, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. It outlines the measures’ main features, their incidence of use, and their connections with specific technical actions and key stakeholders (i.e., how and where measures affect the energy efficiency of industry). It also examines the key features underlying the measures’ success: (1) potential to reduce energy use and CO₂ emissions cost-efficiently; (2) ease of policy development, execution and assessment and (3) ancillary societal effects.     

Role of endogenous energy efficiency improvement in global climate change mitigation

Improving the energy efficiency of conventional energy services is an essential way to cope with global CO₂ emissions mitigation. To date, energy efficiency improvement (EEI) has been broadly introduced exogenously in integrated assessment models (IAMs) by virtue of the autonomous energy efficiency improvement (AEEI) coefficient; however, it is usually good at capturing the EEI driven by non-price factors, while weak in describing the EEI induced by policy incentives. In this paper, we introduce an endogenous EEI (EEEI) mechanism in an IAM, called E3METL, to explore the impacts of EEEI on the global macro-economy, CO₂ emission paths, and timing of carbon mitigations. The results reveal that (1) introducing EEEI significantly improves gross world product (GWP) gains, and this positive effect is partly offset when carbon restriction policies are implemented; (2) R&D investment dedicated to enhance energy efficiency limits R&D expenditures for other alternative technologies, and this effect will impede the development of non-fossil technologies; (3) EEEI may perform as one of supporting factors to delay the actions of carbon reduction; moreover, the introduction of EEEI lowers the optimal carbon tax level by 7.8 % on average, as compared to the no EEEI case.