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A review of the technologies, economics and policy instruments for decarbonising energy-intensive manufacturing industries
Abstract
Industrial processes account for one-third of global energy demand. The iron and steel, cement and refining sectors are particularly energy-intensive, together making up over 30% of total industrial energy consumption and producing millions of tonnes of CO2 per year. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the technologies for reducing emissions from industrial processes by collating information from a wide range of sources. The paper begins with a summary of energy consumption and emissions in the industrial sector. This is followed by a detailed description of process improvements in the three sectors mentioned above, as well as cross-cutting technologies that are relevant to many industries. Lastly, a discussion of the effectiveness of government policies to facilitate the adoption of those technologies is presented. Whilst there has been significant improvement in energy efficiency in recent years, cost-effective energy efficient options still remain. Key energy efficiency measures include upgrading process units to Best Practice, installing new electrical equipment such as pumps and even replacing the process completely. However, these are insufficient to achieve the deep carbon reductions required if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. The paper concludes with recommendations for action to achieve further decarbonisation.
... There are some review papers that have investigated energy efficiency and energy conservation policy instruments implemented by industrial companies (Abdelaziz et al., 2011;Napp et al., 2014). For example, Duc Luong (2015) addressed some energy policies that have been used by the Vietnamese government to improve the energy efficiency of industrial and residential sectors. ...
... Furthermore, social policies such as public environmental awareness often should be implemented by various promotional instruments to have the highest impact on the end-users. Napp et al. (2014) discussed the high-performance technologies and energy policies that can help manufacturers in many industrial sectors i. e., iron and steel, refining, and cement industries improve their efficiency and reduce their GHG emissions. The authors finally proposed renewable energy subsidy and carbon pricing policies as the required financial instruments for accelerating energy efficiency projects in industrial firms. ...
... Based on the reviewed literature, there is a wide range of implemented EEPs to promote energy-saving approaches. The 'Top runner' firms (Nie et al., 2018), 'Top-1000 enterprise energy-saving program' (Zhu et al., 2018), 'Small Plant Closure Programme', and 'Ten Key Energy Conservation Projects' (Napp et al., 2014) are some of the most well-recognized energy programs implemented in recent years. We can also see a great variety of incentive instruments applied in IEEPs. ...
Industrial energy-efficiency programs (IEEPs) are defined as one of the most popular government policies that aim to reduce energy consumption in industrial energy-intensive sectors. In this paper, we review and classify the most important academic studies that have addressed the environmental and economic aspects of IEEPs using a systematic review. The classification of energy policy instruments has been developed based on an analytical approach. We discuss also the outputs, benefits, and barriers of IEEPs, besides a comprehensive argument about the restrictive policies on the rebound effects made after the implementation of these programs. The results disclose that China, USA, and Sweden are the most addressed countries on IEEPs and their applications. In this regard, incentive energy policies e.g., voluntary agreements and subsidies have been applied more than others in the last decade. Furthermore, most of the reviewed studies emphasize energy price reform as an effective practical policy while a few analytical methods can be seen to help policy-makers determine the optimal levels of decision variables. Finally, according to the state-of-the-art analysis, the authors provide some novel recommendations to improve the performance of IEEPs, using some restrictive policies on the negative impacts of rebound effects.
... Improved system Energy saving potential System design optimization Motor 17% -25% (Napp et al. 2014; WSP and DNV GL 2015) Use of variable speed drive (VSD) ...
... Motor 10% -25% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Napp et al. 2014;Saidur et al. 2012) High efficiency motors Motor 20% -30% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Napp et al. 2014; WSP and DNV GL 2015) Leak repair Compressed air 18% -25% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Benedetti et al. 2017 Source: Different authors. 2 CO 2 emissions from fuel combustion, electricity consumption and heat processes. ...
... Motor 10% -25% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Napp et al. 2014;Saidur et al. 2012) High efficiency motors Motor 20% -30% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Napp et al. 2014; WSP and DNV GL 2015) Leak repair Compressed air 18% -25% (Abdelaziz, Saidur, and Mekhilef 2011;Benedetti et al. 2017 Source: Different authors. 2 CO 2 emissions from fuel combustion, electricity consumption and heat processes. ...
This article analyzes the possibility of substantially reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) in the Mexican industrial sector by applying a Low-carbon (LC) scenario, through a period of 25 years, composed by a set of mitigation options that involve the use of energy efficiency, materials recycling, cogeneration and renewable energy. Results reveal that a GHG peak of 226 million tons of equivalent CO2 could be reached by 2030 with a GHG reduction of 26.5%, compared to a Base scenario, demonstrating that the LC scenario could exceed Mexico’s Nationally Determined Contributions objective of reducing 19% of its industrial sector GHG by 2030. Additionally, GHG reduction of 47% could be achieved by 2035. Finally, the economic viability of the LC scenario was evaluated using a cost-benefit approach. As a result, economic benefits above $24,000 million dollars could be achieved due the energy savings generated are greater than costs to implement the mitigation options.
... Global anthropogenic GHG emissions totaled 59 ± 5.9 GtCO 2 -eq in 2018, with about one-third of the total emissions contributed by the industry sector, if indirect emissions from energy use are considered (Crippa et al., 2019). The energy-intensive sectors of iron and steel, cement and refining together contribute over 30% of the overall industrial energy consumption (Napp et al., 2014). ...
... However, government policies should be founded on (a) polluters pay principle, (b) common but differentiated responsibility, (c) development, deployment, and transfer of technology, and (d) easing the conflicts between current free trade regimes and motivated industrial policies (Åhman et al., 2017). A policy mix should, hence, focus on (i) regulations-standards and labeling (Schwarz et al., 2020), improving emissions measurements and benchmarking (Napp et al., 2014), material efficiency (CIWMB, 2003; (ii) economic instruments-carbon pricing and markets (Boyce, 2018), (Ryan et al., 2011); (iii) voluntary actions agreements (Rezessy and Bertoldi, 2011;UNEP, 2018); (iv) transparency and accountability ; (v) extended producer responsibilities (Xiang and Ming, 2011); (vi) information programs-monitoring and evaluation (UNEP, 2018), (vii) partnerships, research, and development (Bataille et al., 2018); and (viii) government provisioning of services-government procurements (Ghisetti, 2017), technology push and market-pull (Fischedick et al., 2014;Hansen et al., 2019). Providing financial incentives, subsidies, and installation rebates to end consumers can create markets for the adoption of efficient technologies and practices (UNEP, 2018;Bertoldi, 2020). ...
The concept of industrial system transition introduced in the IPCC special report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C remains poorly conceptualized. In this paper, we deepen the conceptualization of the industrial system transition to decarbonization, dematerialization, and sustainable industrial production. Aided by fuzzy cognitive maps that use perception-based data from stakeholders to model complex and difficult-to-model systems, we chart the pathways for industrial system transition. The industrial system transition entails interactions between dematerialization and decarbonization goals while enabling governance and systemic corporate strategies. The respondents of the fuzzy cognitive maps-based surveys comprised practitioners from companies, authors, and the policymaking community. Fuzzy cognitive map-based simulations reveal that resorting to technical measures of dematerialization and decarbonization is insufficient to accomplish industrial system transition. The efficient industrial system transition to dematerialization and decarbonization requires the combined measures of (i) dematerialization and decarbonization, (ii) governance, policies, and regulations (effective governance including transnational governance, technology push, market-pull, technology transfer and financial flows, carbon price and carbon market; and (iii) enabling corporate strategies (regenerative and conscious capitalism, a new conception of transparency, and collaborative and constructive lobbying). Large companies are mostly transnational entities, necessitating the adoption of effective transnational governance strategies for achieving the objectives of dematerialization and decarbonization. Several transnational governance networks have partnered under the public–private co-governance mechanism in the decarbonization space dominated by mainly larger players. The advent of polycentric governance provides new opportunities for trans-local governance where large numbers of small and medium enterprises can participate in the advancement of at least decarbonization objectives; however, such networks require support from national governments. Besides implications for governance, policy and regulations, the findings of this research could also have implications for corporate behavior in terms of promoting conscious and transparent organizational culture.
... According to these issues, the government's design incentive programs motivate firms and people that follow the sustainability path, in particular, to promote energy-efficient products [10,11]. Additionally, governments consider these programs to increase energy conservation and maximize social welfare in different ways such as subsiding the energy-efficient products and the related processes or tax deduction for the manufacturers [12,72]. On this matter, the technological efficiency improvement in the manufacturer side causes more efficiency of energy consumption for the energy-consuming products, so that this energy-efficiency improvement of the product should be registered as an industrial patent to protect the obtained innovation against the possible threats and to conserve the full benefits of the mentioned innovation. ...
... Also, Fig. 4 shows the Stackelberg game's framework as follows. Similar to the first scenario, we show the mathematical game model of the second scenario in Eq [12]. ...
Recent developments in energy consumption ‘management’ have heightened the need for energy efficiency considerations in energy-intensive supply chains, according to the sustainable development framework. Therefore, policy-makers need to find out how they can improve these conditions, considering the resource limitations and energy requirements. According to these issues, we address a novel pricing model for new energy-efficient products, conventional models, and relative energy consumption under a tax-subsidy system. The products and energy services are made in a product supply chain consisting of an energy supplier and two manufacturers in a duopoly. Furthermore, the protection costs of innovation process such as copyright are investigated for the first time in this problem. Then, a multi-stage game model is developed considering two scenarios, based on different game structures. Finally, we solve the problem and provide a comprehensive analysis of the optimal values of variables and players’ profit. The results show that the first scenario has more advantages than the leader-follower competition. However, the second scenario results in less energy consumption than the first one. The findings also suggest that energy policies applied on the producer side are more effective than the consumer-side energy policies to improve energy-saving.
... This selection of reduction options which covers traditional stages of I&S production (e.g. coke making, sintering, BOF, EAF) as well as a few breakthrough technologies, was done according to the potential to decarbonisation till 2050 [76,94]. The best available technologies (BATs) have the potential of emission reduction of 15 … 30% in the EII, even when applied on a large scale [90,95]. ...
... The leaders in the I&S industry employ many ancillary means of energy and material efficiency, e.g. waste heat utilisation, variable electric drives, advanced measuring and control systems, if only these are economically viable [50,94,129]. However, these can only suitably complement mainstream measures. ...
Decarbonisation of the iron and steel (I&S) industry is crucial in the efforts to meet the EU GHG emission reduction objectives in 2030…2050. Promoting decarbonisation in this sector will necessarily require the identification, development, and diffusion of breakthrough technologies for I&S production.
This paper uses an approach inspired by the Technology Innovation System (TIS) to analyse the development of technology in the EU I&S industry and identify potential avenues of its decarbonisation. We have described key elements of the TIS, analyse the functioning of these elements and their interactions in a more general context of innovation dynamics and policy design; The focus has been put on the role of actors and the identification of the main specific blocking and inducement mechanism in the TIS to better explain its functioning. Risks and uncertainties have also been discussed.
We argue that deep decarbonisation in the I&S industry is feasible but its TIS requires firm support, mostly political, to finance intensive R&D and reduce the business risk. To this end, all actors shall support more effectively the invention and implementation of new radical production technologies. The recommendations are mostly addressed to politicians although stressing the importance of collaboration of all actors.
... Fig. 2 shows an overview of iron and steel metallurgical routes which will be briefly introduced in the rest of this subsection. The iron and steel production processes are composed of two basic routes: (1) primary route where iron ores and scrap are used as the raw materials, (2) secondary route from recycled steel scrap (Napp et al., 2014;Quader et al., 2015). ...
... These efficient opportunities refer to innovation heating furnaces, e.g. Rapidfire™ edge heater (Department of Energy, 2000), flameless oxyfuel combustion furnace (Narayanan et al., 2006), walking beam furnace, and regenerative burner, which can provide more furnace heating capacity and lower fuel consumption. Casting, rolling and finish processes need to meet various demands, thus it is necessary to provide solutions by supplying linking lines e.g. a continuous casting machine that produces slabs, blooms and billets by pouring molten steel into a mold (New Energy and Industrial Techonology Development Organization, 2008). ...
The iron and steel industry relies significantly on primary energy, and is one of the largest energy consumers in the manufacturing sector. Simultaneously, numerous waste heat is lost and discharged directly into the environment in the process of steel production. Thus considering conservation of energy, energy-efficient improvement should be a holistic target for iron and steel industry. The research gap is that almost all the review studies focus on the primary energy saving measures in iron and steel industry whereas few work summarize the secondary energy saving technologies together with former methods. The objective of this paper is to develop the concept of mass-thermal network optimization in iron and steel industry, which unrolls a comprehensive map to consider current energy conservation technologies and low grade heat recovery technologies from an overall situation. By presenting an overarching energy consumption in the iron and steel industry, energy saving potentials are presented to identify suitable technologies by using mass-thermal network optimization. Case studies and demonstration projects around the world are also summarized. The general guideline is figured out for the energy optimization in iron and steel industry while the improved mathematical models are regarded as the future challenge.
... The keywords used in the literature research include environmental policy instruments, low carbon instruments, hierarchical instruments, authority, regulations, fiscal instruments, environmental information disclosure and network governance, etc. Irrelevant literature was eliminated by reading the title, keywords, and abstract after which the remainder of the documents were used for in-depth study. Especially influential and frequently cited articles were Cheshmehzangi et al. (2018), Wang (2014), Lo (2014), Safarzadeh et al. (2020), Napp et al. (2014), Henstra (2016), Grubb et al. (2020), Blazquez et al. (2018), Nissinen et al. (2015) and B€ ocher (2012). ...
... Information diffusion and sharing improve project coordination (Peters, 2013). Information-based instruments put pressure on polluters to improve their environmental performance (Napp et al., 2014). IBIs are more accurate in influencing specific target groups and obtaining particular responses (Palm and Lantz, 2020). ...
Local governments in China actively promote low carbon city pilots to respond to the challenges of climate change mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals, including building sustainable cities and communities, and taking climate action. However, relatively little is known about the actual implementation of programs to achieve sustainable cities, especially how combinations of policy instruments are deployed in the realisation of low carbon cities. First, this study contributes to the literature in policy studies by identifying how four types relevant to carbon city development, hierarchy, market, network and information based ones, can be combined in policy mixes and play out in the effective realisation of low carbon cities in other countries. Second, this framework is used to map the application of policy instruments in China’s 35 low carbon pilot cities. This study uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to explore which configurations of policy instruments are in use and assesses their effects on low carbon city construction. It thus builds a bridge between theory on policy instruments, their combinations and low carbon city development. The presence of hierarchical policy instruments appears to be a necessary condition for low carbon city development and their use prevails. Market-based and network-based instruments complement hierarchical instruments but do not suffice in themselves. Applying hierarchical instruments and market-based instruments together tends to hamper the effect of network instruments and information instruments, whereas network instruments appear to be interchangeable with information instruments. Network governance in China’s low carbon city development is still comparatively underdeveloped.
... Generally, although the wet processes are more energy intensive due to the evaporation of high moisture contained in raw materials, the investment cost of those plants is rather low and high-quality products are manufactured easily [12][13][14][15][16]. On the other hand, the plants based on the dry processes consume less energy, which results in much lower operational costs of manufacturing. ...
... Cement production also has a significant contribution to environmental degradation originating both from anthropogenic pollutant emissions and mining activities of raw materials and coal, which is the most usual source of energy in the cement plant. In this way, it contributes to about 5 to 8% of anthropogenic GHG emissions [13,14,21]. These emissions 2 ...
The cement industry is one of the most intensive energy consumers in the industrial sectors. The energy consumption represents 40% to 60% of production cost. Additionally, the cement industry contributes around 5% to 8% of all man-made CO2 emissions. Physiochemical and thermochemical reactions involved in cement kilns are still not well understood because of their complexity. The reactions have a decisive influence on energy consumption, environmental degradation, and the cost of cement production. There are technical difficulties in achieving direct measurements of critical process variables in kiln systems. Furthermore, process simulation is used for design, development, analysis, and optimization of processes, when experimental tests are difficult to conduct. Moreover, there are several models for the purpose of studying the use of alternative fuels, cement clinker burning process, phase chemistry, and physical parameters. Nonetheless, most of them do not address real inefficiency taking place in the processes, equipment, and the overall system. This paper presents parametric study results of the four-stage preheater dry Rotary Kiln System (RKS) with a planetary cooler. The RKS at the Mbeya Cement Company (MCC) in Tanzania is used as a case study. The study investigated the effects of varying the RKS parameters against system behaviour, process operation, environment, and energy consumptions. Necessary data for the modelling of the RKS at the MCC plant were obtained either by daily operational measurements or laboratory analyses. The steady-state simulation model of the RKS was carried out through the Aspen Plus software. The simulation results were successfully validated using real operating data. Predictions from parametric studies suggest that monitoring and regulating exhaust gases could improve combustion efficiency, which, in turn, leads to conserving fuels and lowering production costs. Composition of exhaust gases also depends both on the type of fuel used and the amount of combustion air. The volume of exit flue gases depends on the amount of combustion air and infiltrating air in the RKS. The results obtained from the study suggest a potential of coal saving at a minimum of about , which approximates to 76,126 tons per year at the current kiln feed of 58,000 kg·h⁻¹. Thus, this translates to a specific energy saving of about 1849.12 kJ·kgcl⁻¹, with relatively higher clinker throughput. In this vein, process modelling provides effective, safe, and economical ways for assessing the performance of the RKS.
1. Introduction
There are several process parameters in a cement rotary kiln system, which should be studied in order to observe trends that may indicate problems and provide necessary mean data for process analysis. The most important kiln controlling parameters are clinker production rate, fuel flow rate, specific heat consumption, secondary air temperature, kiln feed-end temperature, preheater exhaust gas temperature, ID fan pressure drop, kiln feed-end percentage oxygen, percentage downcomer oxygen, primary air flow rate, specific kiln volume loading, specific heat loading of burning zone cross-section area, and cooler air flow rate including temperature, pressure, and oxygen profile of the preheater [1–4]. However, the principal control variables are burning zone solid material temperature typically aimed at ; feed-end gas temperature typical at ; and feed-end oxygen typical at 2% [1]. Control is managed by adjustments of kiln feed, fuel flow rate, and ID fan speed [1].
A process simulation software is used for the description of different processes in flow diagrams. The objectives of simulation models are to deliver a comprehensive report of material and energy streams, determine the correlation between the reaction and separation systems, study how to eliminate wastes and prevent environmental pollution, evaluate plant flexibility to changes in feedstock or product policy, investigate the formation and separation of by-products and impurities, optimize the economic performance of the plant, validate the process instrumentation, and enhance process safety and control.
Cement production processes involve complex chemical and physical reactions during the conversion of raw materials to the final product. Moreover, the clinker burning process, which has a decisive influence on energy consumption and the cost of cement production, involves the combustion reaction of fossil fuel and a complex heat exchange between solids from raw materials and hot combustion gases [2, 3]. It also involves mixing, as well as separation of solid and fluids at various compositions, temperatures, and pressures. Therefore, following these complex issues which contribute to the inefficient energy use and emissions in cement kiln systems, there is a strong need to use computer-aided modelling to simplify the work of analyses. Other studies have tried to vary fuel properties, primary- and secondary air settings, and fuel feed location to study the effect of the operational setting on refuse-derived fuel, where the results show a good applicability of the presented modelling procedure [2–5].
Cement manufacturing is a high volume and energy intensive process, and according to the authors in [6, 7], the price of consuming large amounts of nonrenewable resources and energy (principally thermal fuels and electrical power) in those plants contributes to about 40% to 60% of the total manufacturing cost. In addition, the cement plants are also intensive in terms of CO2 and other effluent emissions. For that reason, sustainability can be viewed as a broad and complex concept in the cement industry sector, as it includes a variety of key issues, such as (i) efficiency of resource and energy use, (ii) reduced emissions, (iii) health and safety protection, and (iv) competitiveness and profitability, which are essential for its economic survival and social acceptance [8].
The term “cement” includes a range of substances utilized as binders or adhesives, even though the cement produced in the greatest volume and most widely used in concrete for construction is Portland cement. Cement plants basically consist of three manufacturing parts: (i) raw material and fuel supply preparation, (ii) clinker production (commonly named as the pyroprocessing part), and (iii) intergrinding and blending of cement clinker with other active ingredients to produce the required types of cement.
The cement manufacturing process starts by handling a mix of raw materials: (i) naturally occurring limestone, which is the source of calcium, (ii) clay minerals and (iii) sand, which are the sources of silicon and aluminium, and (iv) iron-containing components. The raw materials are ground and mixed together in controlled proportions to form a homogeneous blend, termed as a raw meal or raw-mix, with the required chemical composition.
Raw meal is then subjected to the continuous, high temperature operations in the pyroprocessing part of the plant, namely the rotary kiln system (RKS). The progressive increase of temperature along RKS initiates a series of consecutive reactions of raw meal, ranging from the evaporation of free water to the decomposition of raw materials and the combination of lime and clay oxides. This means that raw meal passes through a series of functional zones where it is dried, preheated, calcined, and sintered to produce clinker minerals, which, in turn, form the semifused pellets of cement clinker. Regarding the type of pyroprocessing employed in RKS, the overall technology for cement production can be roughly divided into (i) the dry process, (ii) the wet process and its modification, (iii) the semidry process, and (iv) the semiwet process. Each of the enumerated processes are characterized by different raw material preparations and different configurations of RKS, and in practice, they have to be selected according to consideration given to properties of raw materials and costs of fuel and electricity, as well as conditions of location, etc. The major technologies in use today, including their configurations, respective temperature, and functional zones inside the RKS, are illustrated in Figure 1 [9–11].
... Therefore, it is imperative to look for scientific and reasonable approaches to energy conservation and carbon emission reduction in the main sectors of the economy (Zhang and Da, 2015). Industry is usually highly energy intensive, and industrial energy Energy Economics 61 (2017) 199-208 consumption accounts for one third of global energy consumption (Napp et al., 2014); especially in China, Industry takes up more of a share of the energy system than in many other countries. Fig. 1 depicts industrial energy consumption and the total during 1994-2012 in China: industrial energy consumption accounts for more than 60% of the total, and the increasing trends are extremely close, with average annual growth rates of 4.71% and 4.76%, respectively. ...
... Therefore, to meet the CO 2 emission target set up by IPCC [1] (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and COP 21 [2], decarbonisation of the industrial processes is very much essential. Among different industries, iron and steel industry, cement industry and refineries are the highest emitting industries that consume ~38% (43 EJ) of total industrial energy consumption [3]. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered as a cost-effective way to reduce CO 2 emissions from different industrial sectors [4][5][6]. ...
Rapid increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has a potential effect on climate change. In this regard, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is recognized as having the potential to play a major role in the mitigation of CO2 and decarbonizing industry. The chemical separation based CO2 capture process is already established and adapted by several industries. However, the processes are energy intensive. Therefore, finding a potential adsorbent and their application towards CO2 capture is still a daunting task. Porous organic frameworks are a class of adsorbent material which can have huge potential in CO2 capture and short-term storage application because of their tremendously high surface area, chemical tunability, and surface functionality compared to other adsorbents, such as zeolites and activated carbon. In this review article, we provide a comprehensive account of significant progress in the design, synthesis, and scale-up processes of the porous organic frameworks and their application towards carbon capture and their engineering challenges.
... The consequences of the recent renewable energy cost reduction for the choice of industry location are not yet reflected in most assessment scenarios and roadmaps (Bellevrat et al., 2009;IPTS/EC, 2013;Junjie, 2018;Napp, Gambhir, Hills, Florin, & Fennell, 2014;OECD, 2014). Whereas the technical aspects of hydrogen-based iron and steel making have been studied extensively (Mayer, Bachner, & Steininger, 2019;Nuber, Eichberger, & Rollinger, 2006;Otto et al., 2017;Razani da Costa, Wagner, Patisson, & Ablitzer, 2009;Vogl,Åhman, & Nilsson, 2018), limited attention has been paid to the integration of clean hydrogen supply and iron and steel making (Cavaliere, 2019). ...
The article assesses the future role of hydrogen‐based iron and steel making and its potential impact on global material flows, based on a combination of technology assessment, material flow analysis, and microeconomic analysis. Renewable hydrogen‐based iron production can become the least‐cost supply option at a carbon dioxide (CO2) price of around United States dollars (USD) 67 per tonne. Availability of low‐cost renewable electricity is a precondition. Australia is the world's largest producer of iron ore and at the same time a country with significant low‐cost renewable electricity potential. A shift to direct reduced iron (DRI) exports could reduce global CO2 emissions substantially and at the same time increase value added in Australia, while maintaining steel production in countries that are currently processing ore into iron and steel, such as China, South Korea, and Japan. The approach could be expanded to other parts of the world and other energy‐intensive industry sectors. Such relocation analysis in a climate context can become a new industrial ecology research area. Iron and steel industry CO2 emissions can be reduced by nearly a third, around 0.7 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2 per year. To achieve these emission reductions, investment of USD 0.9 trillion, or 0.7% of the total energy sector investment needs, would be required, global DRI production would have to increase seven‐fold from today's level, and the hydrogen energy used would equal 1% of global primary energy supply. Such a shift could develop from 2025 onward at scale, if the right policies are put in place.
... Among the petroleum processing units, FCC unit was the largest energy consuming unit, accounting for about 16.1% of the total energy consumption of the enterprise; 82.9% of the energy was from the heat generated by petroleum coke combustion. From another perspective, FCC unit was also an important source of energy in the enterprise, due to the temperature of flue gas generated from which can reach 700 C. The heat recovery of high temperature flue gas through the flue gas turbine can reduce the energy consumption of FCC unit its actual output heat is the focus of attention (Napp et al., 2014). The total amount of heat recovered was 0.11 Mtce in Fushun Petrochemical. ...
Petroleum refining is a technology complex, energy- and CO2 emission-intensive industrial process, which is affected by the type and property of the crude oil. China has been the exploitation of crude oil to paraffinic most. This paper targets to quantify and evaluate the material or energy metabolism and environment loads of paraffin-based petroleum at refining process unit-level through the established petroleum flow and energy flow on the CO2 emissions accounting framework, and explores energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction pathways and policy implications, using a typical paraffin-based petroleum refining enterprise in China as a case. The results indicated that the crude oil from the inputs were fractionated in the atmospheric and vacuum distillation (AVD) unit, and its energy consumption and CO2 emissions accounted for 14.38% and 13.2% of the total energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the case study, respectively. With the transformation of petroleum refinery plant structure, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), ketone benzol dewaxing (KBD), and delayed coking units dominated more energy consumption and CO2 emissions. FCC unit was both the largest energy consumer and supplier, flue gas waste heat recovery efficiency of which was an important factor affecting energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction for FCC unit and even enterprise. KBD unit records the largest energy and CO2 emission intensities, which are 67.95 kgce/t product and 256.82 kgCO2e/t product respectively, due to the high wax content of paraffin-based crude oil and the coal-dominated power generation structure. Based on these research findings, three mitigation policy recommendations were proposed, including the improvement of energy efficiency, optimization of energy consumption structure and product output structure. Carbon capture and storage can reduce CO2 emission by about a third in the concentrated units of primary energy consumption (i.e. AVD, FCC, and DC). The results of this paper are key components of the life cycle assessment of the CO2 emissions of petroleum fuels produced by domestic paraffin-based crude oil.
... However, the co-existence of these actors individually does not ensure effective diffusion of innovation [72]: it is through cooperation and established networks between the key players of an industry, public authorities and research institutions that innovation can be shared and cultivated [73]. Via institutional analysis, national policies affecting industry and setting a path towards decarbonisation are identified, along with similar European initiatives, like EU-ETS [74]. Demand also plays a key role in the market, not only as a consuming agent, but also in the adoption of new technologies and improvement of end products [75]. ...
Industrial processes are associated with high amounts of energy consumed and greenhouse gases emitted, stressing the urgent need for low-carbon sectoral transitions. This research reviews the energy-intensive iron and steel, cement and chemicals industries of Germany and the United Kingdom, two major emitting countries with significant activity, yet with different recent orientation. Our socio-technical analysis, based on the Sectoral Innovation Systems and the Systems Failure framework, aims to capture existing and potential drivers of or barriers to diffusion of sustainable industrial technologies and extract implications for policy. Results indicate that actor structures and inconsistent policies have limited low-carbon innovation. A critical factor for the successful decarbonisation of German industry lies in overcoming lobbying and resistance to technological innovation caused by strong networks. By contrast, a key to UK industrial decarbonisation is to drive innovation and investment in the context of an industry in decline and in light of Brexit-related uncertainty.
... The fundamental logic underpinning the emergence and need for rapid deployment and proliferation of RETs is to replace fossil fuels as global energy sources [50]. Notably, the imperative to decarbonise energy-intensive industries with the smart optimisation of RETs to protect the environment is a mainstream climate action thinking [51]. Given this sturdy premise, it arguably seems illogical to adopt RETs to sustain an industry that RETs are ideologically set to replace. ...
There is an attempt by conventional oil and gas companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainability practices to maintain a position of relevance in a low-carbon energy future. One of such measures is the idea of upstream energy integration (or field electrification), yet emerging and in its nascency. The concept of energy integration is to electrify upstream petroleum production operations through renewables to reduce carbon intensity and mitigate process emissions. While this seems promising, its dynamics and wider ramifications remain unexplored in the scholarly literature. Drawing on the socio-technical transition theory and adopting a qualitative approach to energy systems analysis, this perspective type piece identifies and discusses the implications of the emerging trend of upstream energy integration. The analysis proceeds with three thematic parallels and five central motifs that potentially set research and policy framing agendas to complement existing energy governance frameworks. These include Process energy needs, Resources and materials sourcing, Embodied energy implications, Scalar deployment costing and Temporal dynamics for transition (the PREST framework).
... Global warming and protection of environment are increasing issues in the modern society. These serious concerns make the reduction of carbon emissions urgently necessary [1][2][3][4]. Energy production facilitates (such as, power plants) have major contribution in the problems; therefore, decrease of energy consumption, mainly electricity for lighting as well as energy for heating and cooling buildings, have been considered as one of the main targets for solving the environmental problems. The decrease of energy consumption in buildings should not violate the comfort and safety of occupants and interfere with the main functions of the buildings. ...
The physical parameters related to indoor lighting in large industrial halls in winter and summer periods were analyzed using in situ measurements and computational methods. Here, we present part of our observations from a comprehensive research on indoor environmental quality of industrial halls with the aims of saving energy and providing a comfortable environment for the workers. The results showed that the procedures used for evaluation of residential or office buildings may not be used for industrial buildings. We also observed that the criteria for occupants’ comforts for indoor industrial buildings may differ from those of other kinds of buildings. Based on these results, an adequate attention is required while designing the industrial buildings. For this reason, appropriate evaluation methods and criteria should be created. Manufacturing halls are integral parts of industrial architecture, including buildings for light industries. Workers spend a substantial part of the time indoor; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to design, construction, and evaluation of internal spaces of buildings and the occupants’ comfort. The focus must be given particularly to heating and cooling, moisture, and lighting microclimate. We present some observations from evaluation of internal environmental quality of industrial halls with priority on daylighting in combination with the integral lighting.
... If the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere exceeds 550 ppm, it may cause significant damage to the environment [49]. China's current annual CO 2 emissions have exceeded 10 billion tons [50], ranking first in the world. ...
Steel slag is a kind of alkaline solid waste produced in the process of steel production. In China, the annual steel slag production is very large but the utilization rate is only 20%. Therefore, technologies disposing steel slag effectively need to be developed. In traditional resource utilization technology, steel slag is used in sintering flux, road construction, cement and concrete production, preparation of glass ceramics and agriculture. In these fields, we mainly give full play to steel slag’s mechanical properties. Although these traditional technologies are simple and easy to use, the main reason for their limited application is the low value of resource-based products and the lack of market competitiveness. Therefore, some new exploration has been made on the resource utilization of steel slag, including dephosphorization of sewage, heavy metal adsorption, hazardous gas removal, fixed CO 2 by mineral carbonation. Compared with the traditional resource utilization technologies, these new technologies mainly utilize the physical and chemical properties of steel slag, such as alkalinity and pore characteristics. However, these new technologies also have some limitations, so it is necessary to develop a resource-based technology with strong pertinency, large consumption and high added value of products to treat steel slag. Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas leading to global climate change. At present, China’s carbon dioxide emissions are high, so it is urgent to develop effective carbon dioxide emission reduction technology. In recent years, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology has received extensive attention. This paper summarizes the carbon capture utilization and sequestration technology, and discusses its problems at present.
... The production of cement clinker from raw material requires very high temperatures to start up the reaction. Cement manufacturing plants are consuming 720 MW, which is about 11% of the total industrial energy consumption (Madlool et al. 2011(Madlool et al. , 2013Napp et al. 2014). Increasing energy consumption in kiln; low resource utilization and high pollution emission have adverse effects on the environment. ...
In this paper, a three-dimensional turbulent gas flow with solid particles was numerically simulated to optimize the performance of a cyclone preheater. The numerical approach for the flow development was based on unsteady simulations using the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM). The Discrete Phase Model (DPM) was used for the dispersion of particles due to turbulence in the fluid phase. The size of raw material solid particles ranged from 1 µm to 30 µm and the inlet gas velocity ranged from 10 m/s to 20 m/s were considered for parametric study. The main objective of this study consists of the performance evaluation of the cyclone pre-heater in terms of collection efficiency, pressure drop across the cyclone, heat transfer rate. The results indicate that the increase of particle size leads to increase collection efficiency of the particles up to 99.89% and temperature difference of about 212 K with the slight variation of pressure drop. The heat transfer rate decreases with increase in inlet air velocity due to less particles residence time inside the cyclone pre-heater. For a given cyclone design and working conditions, the maximum heat transfer was 87 W for 30 µm particle size with hot air velocity of 10 m/s.
... Global warming and protection of environment are increasing issues in the modern society. These serious concerns make the reduction of carbon emissions urgently necessary [1][2][3][4]. Energy production facilitates (such as, power plants) have major contribution in the problems; therefore, decrease of energy consumption, mainly electricity for lighting as well as energy for heating and cooling buildings, have been considered as one of the main targets for solving the environmental problems. The decrease of energy consumption in buildings should not violate the comfort and safety of occupants and interfere with the main functions of the buildings. ...
We present observations from evaluation of internal environmental quality of industrial halls with priority on daylighting in combination with the integral lighting. The physical parameters related to indoor lighting in large industrial halls in winter and summer periods were analyzed using in situ measurements and computational methods. These are part of a comprehensive research on indoor environmental quality of industrial halls with the aims of saving energy and providing a comfortable environment for the workers while improving the productivity. The results showed that the procedures used for evaluation of residential or office buildings may not be used for industrial buildings. We also observed that the criteria of occupants’ comforts for indoor industrial buildings may differ from those of other kinds of buildings. Based on these results, an adequate attention is required for designing the industrial buildings. For this reason, appropriate evaluation methods and criteria should be created. We found the measured values of daylight factor very close to the skylight component of the total illumination. The skylight component was observed on average 30% that of the measured daylight factor values. Although the daylight is not emphasized when designing the industrial buildings and its contribution is small, but it is very important for the workers psychology and physiology. The workers must feel a connection with the exterior environment; otherwise, their productivity decreases.
... The power, transport, agricultural, residential, and the industrial sector accounted for 23.2, 11.0, 10.0, 7.4, and 6.9 Gt CO 2 -eq. in 2010 [16]. The industrial sector has gained a lot of attention recent years with respect to its GHG emission reduction potential [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. ...
In this MSc I explored the options to decarbonise the hard-to-abate steel sector focussing on the region where most steel production takes place, East Asia. In order to do so, I built a technology diffusion model (FTT:Steel) to find out how technology decisions can change under the influence of policies. The model was connected to the macro-econometric E3ME model which provided valuable wider economic feedbacks.
... In terms of disruptive technologies, CCS has been one of the main international focuses for decarbonisation efforts in an industrial context [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Rootz en and Johnsson [35] examined the potential of industrial CCS in EI sectors within a Nordic context, and found that large-scale deployment would result in a significant 'penalty' with regard to its energy use and CO 2 emissions. ...
Steel products are widely used in the construction industry and for the development of infrastructure projects, because they are versatile, durable, and affordable. Energy demand and ‘greenhouse gas’ (GHG) emissions associated with the United Kingdom (UK) Iron & Steel sector principally result from the large consumption of coal/coke used in conjunction with the blast furnace. Like other sectors of industry, efforts are being made to ensure that processing becomes ever more environmentally benign, or ‘green’. Thus, the notion of ‘green steel’ has entered into the industrial vocabulary over the last decade or so. It is a steel-making process designed principally to lower GHG emissions, as well as potentially cutting costs and improving the quality of steel, in comparison to conventional methods. The aim of this study was therefore to (i) elicit the various ways in which the term ‘green steel’ has recently been used in the literature; and (ii) compare and contrast different options for making UK steel production more environmentally benign, particularly in regard to its decarbonisation. Some key ‘deep decarbonisation’, or ‘disruptive’, options for producing green steel in the UK are evaluated drawing on the experience from other nation-states and regions. These include the prospects for carbon capture and storage (CCS), the use of bioenergy resources, hydrogen-based production, electrification, and the least desirable option of deindustrialisation (i.e., reducing or out-sourcing of UK steel production ‘offshore’). ‘Circular economy’ interventions or resource efficiency improvements (‘reduce, reuse, recycle’) are also discussed. The potential reductions in GHG emissions from the UK Iron & Steel sector overall out to 2050 are then illustrated by comparison with previous technology roadmaps or transition pathways. The lessons learned are applicable across much of the industrialised world.
... Additionally, major technological changes in the industrial sectors are necessary to achieve a low-carbon transition [3]. There are several pathways to reduce GHG emissions in the industry, such as adopting highly energy-efficient technologies, implementing carbon capture and storage systems, and the electrification of production processes [4]. The strong penetration of renewables provides the necessary carbon-neutral energy sources for a clean industrial electrification. ...
Creating new business models is crucial for the implementation of clean technologies for industrial decarbonization. With incomplete knowledge of market processes and uncertain conditions, assessing the prospects of a technology-based business model is challenging. This study combines business model innovation, system dynamics, and exploratory model analysis to identify new business opportunities in a context of sociotechnical transition and assess their prospects through simulation experiments. This combination of methods is applied to the case of a potential business model for Distribution System Operators aiming at ensuring the stability of the electrical grid by centralizing the management of flexible loads in industrial companies. A system dynamics model was set up to simulate the diffusion of flexible electrification technologies. Through scenario definition and sensitivity analysis, the influence of internal and external factors on diffusion was assessed. Results highlight the central role of energy costs and customer perception. The chosen combination of methods allowed the formulation of concrete recommendations for coordinated action, explicitly accounting for the various sources of uncertainty. We suggest testing this approach in further business model innovation contexts.
... Additionally, major technological changes in the industrial sectors are necessary to achieve a low-carbon transition [3]. There are several pathways to reduce GHG emissions in the industry, such as adopting highly energy efficient technologies, implementing carbon capture and storage systems, and the electrification of production processes [4]. The strong penetration of renewables adapt to this changing environment, which also entails changes for their customers. ...
Creating new business models is crucial for the implementation of clean technologies for industrial decarbonization. With incomplete knowledge of market processes and uncertain conditions, assessing the prospects of a technology-based business model is challenging. This study combines business model innovation, system dynamics and exploratory model analysis to identify new business opportunities in a context of socio-technical transition and assess their prospects through simulation experiments. Furthermore, insights are visualized in a roadmap to coordinate action among the actors involved. This combination of methods is applied to the case of a business model aiming at ensuring stability of the electrical grid by centralizing the management of flexible loads in industrial companies. A system dynamics model was set up to simulate the diffusion of flexible electrification technologies. Through scenario definition and sensitivity analysis, the influence of internal and external factors on diffusion was assessed. Results highlight the central role of energy costs and customer perception. The chosen combination of methods allowed the formulation of concrete recommendation for coordinated action, explicitly accounting for the various sources of uncertainty. We suggest testing this approach in further business model innovation contexts.
... However, it has not been adequately explored for energy recovery during ACC. Most large industries (for example coal-fired power plants) that use ACC have set up technical procedures to conduct energy assessment studies for their local plants to reduce energy efficiency, available resources, and greenhouse gas emissions [104,105]. PI through the retrofitting of flexible HENs in existing plants could improve energy recovery during ACC by increasing the heat transfer area of the process. Also, the use of PI-based techniques during the ACC allows the process to use the heat emitted by another unit even if the units do not operate optimally on their own, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption. ...
Absorptive CO 2 Capture (ACC) is widely embraced as a mature technology to mitigate CO 2 emission, but it is energy-intensive and expensive to implement on a commercial scale. It is envisaged that energy recovery could be achieved during ACC by synthesizing and integrating a complex network of flexible heat exchangers to transfer as much energy as possible from a set of hot flows to cold flows. This review provides information on the progress made in the development of process and non-process integration-based techniques alongside their benefits for effective energy recovery during ACC. An exposition on the integration of flexible Heat Exchanger Networks (HENs), its synthesis methodologies, and developments for improving energy recovery during ACC is presented. Furthermore, this review highlights the current state of knowledge creation in process integration and ACC, as well as its underpinning principles, challenges, and opportunities to provide a summary and important discussion on current practices in process integration-based strategies for energy recovery. Current opinions on the integration of flexible HENs for energy recovery during ACC are highlighted. The review also presents a proposed roadmap for large-scale energy recovery during ACC, and suggestions on the improvement opportunities for future research and development were provided. Finally, this review revealed that the integration of flexible HENs is a promising technique for energy recovery during ACC. This study will be beneficial to researchers exploring cost-effective methods for designing sustainable energy systems for effective energy recovery.
... IEA, rather, defines energy-intensive industries as industries belonging to some manufacturing sectors: chemical, petrochemicals, iron and steel, cement, paper and pulp, aluminium and other non-ferrous metals and minerals (IEA, 2007:21-22). Most authors follow the IEA sectoral categorization (Lechtenböhmer, et al., 2016;Napp, et al., 2014;Prashar, 2017;Saygin, et al., 2011;Van Hasselt and Biermann, 2007). A precise definition can be found in the Swedish programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE), which identifies energy-intensive companies by the following criteria: 1) purchases of energy products and electricity amount to at least 3% of the production value and/ or 2) the energy, carbon dioxide, and sulphur taxes on energy products and electricity used by the company amount to at least 0.5% of the added value (Stenqvist and Nilsson, 2012:228). ...
... As for the type of industry, it is concluded that the chemical industry, cement industry, paper industry, steel and iron industry, power plant, and refineries are those that appear most frequently in industrial symbiosis. The fact that the refineries, iron and steel, pulp and paper, and chemicals industries are most involved in industrial symbiosis can be explained by the high overall industrial final energy consumption of these industries, as well as being responsible for a large proportion of carbon dioxide emissions (Napp et al., 2014), which encourages measures to make them more efficient and to reduce the negative effects of the process. ...
Industrial symbiosis, which allows entities and companies that traditionally be separated, to cooperate among them in the sharing of resources, contributes to the increase of sustainability with environmental, economic and social benefits. Examples of industrial symbiosis have grown over the years with increasing geographic dispersion. Thus, through a comprehensive review of previous studies, this work aims to trace the trend of industrial symbiosis research and to map the existing case studies around the world, with a critical analysis of its impact. The analysis of the 584 selected publications allowed tracing the evolution of these according to their content and the type of article, as well as its distribution by journals. Based on the literature review, the main lines for research in industrial symbiosis are assessed, as well as an updated study of the published case studies is provided with emphasis on the location, type of industry and employed methodologies. Several challenges are then identified for future research. The results reveal the number of articles on industrial symbiosis has greatly increased since 2007 and China is the country with the largest number of publications and cases of industrial symbiosis, followed by the United States. The methods for quantifying impacts and analysing industrial symbiosis networks were the most widely used. The analysis of the published case studies allowed an overview of the industrial symbiosis in the world and showed that the potential for application is enormous, both in developed countries and in countries with developing economies, and although the most present economic activities in the synergies are associated with the manufacturing sector, the possibilities of industrial symbiosis are not restricted to these activities nor to the number of entities involved. The symbioses between industry and the surrounding community also have great potential for development with numerous advantages for both parties.
... It also offers an efficient energy balance that can be easily transported and stored (Pudukudy et al. 2014;Abbasi and Abbasi 2011). A safer energy system allows less dependence on fossil fuels (Sheffield and Çigdem 2009;Dunn 2002) with the ability to work in the transport sectors (Coalition study 2010; Tollefson 2010), heat (Dodds and Stephanie 2013;Dodds et al. 2015), industry (Napp et al. 2014), and electricity (Ball and Marcel 2015;Samsatli et al. 2016). Together, they form two-thirds of global CO 2 emissions (REN21 2017;MacCarthy et al. 2015; Committee on Climate Change 2015) as shown in Fig. 2. ...
One of the main problems facing our planetary bodies is unexpected and sudden climate change due to continuously increasing global energy demand, which currently is being met by fossil fuels. Hydrogen is considered as one of the major energy solutions of the twenty-first century, capable of meeting future energy needs. Being 61a zero-emission fuel, it could reduce environmental impacts and craft novel energy opportunities. Hydrogen through fuel cells can be used in transport and distributed heating, as well as in energy storage systems. The transition from fossil-based fuels to hydrogen requires intensive research to overcome scientific and socio-economic barriers. The purpose of this paper is to reflect the current state, related issues, and projection of hydrogen and fuel elements within the conceptual framework of 61a future sustainable energy vision. An attempt has been made to compile in this paper the past hydrogen-related technologies, present challenges, and role of hydrogen in the future.
... This will certainly reduce the fossil fuel dependence [9,10]. Hydrogen based fuel cells can be used for variety of applications such as transportation [11,12], heat [13,14], industry [15], and electricity sectors [16,17], which all together account for two-thirds of global CO 2 emissions. ...
Biofuel cells (BFCs) are the devices made to transform the chemical energy of organic matter to electrical energy utilizing metabolic reactions occurring in microorganisms during degradation of organic contaminants. In spite of having many applications such as waste water treatment, biosensors and portable uses of BFCs, promoting the uses of BFCs is very challenging because of short life-time and low-power density. Most of the BFC developed till date is only capable to fulfill energy needs of biomedical short-term implanted devices. Use of materials with nano dimensions in the construction of BFCs has been studied extensively and reported as a worthwhile strategy to increase its efficiency. Usually, it is difficult to achieve efficient electron transfer on planar electrode from biocatalyst due to its non-specific orientational the interface. Nonmaterials provide close wiring for the electron transfer between biocatalyst and electrode. Use of various nanomaterials is the most effective way to decrease the gap between active sites (electron producing area)deep inside the enzyme or proteins and the electrodes to achieve better electron transfer. Also, various nanomaterials are utilized to improve the membrane materials for better electron barrier. Many carbon nanostructures, conducting polymers, metal and metal oxides are promising nonmaterials to enhance the current output from BFC. This review highlights recent progress registered in the development of various nanomaterials for construction of electrode and membranes of biofuel cells for better efficiency. It also emphasized the utilization of different metallic nanomaterials, inorganic nanomaterials, conducting polymer-based nanomaterials and carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene, fullerenes, and carbon nanotubes.
... IEA, rather, defines energy-intensive industries as industries belonging to some manufacturing sectors: chemical, petrochemicals, iron and steel, cement, paper and pulp, aluminium and other nonferrous metals and minerals (IEA, 2007:21-22). Most authors follow the IEA sectoral categorization (Lechtenböhmer, et al., 2016;Napp, et al., 2014;Prashar, 2017;Saygin, et al., 2011;Van Hasselt and Biermann, 2007). A precise definition can be found in the Swedish programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE), which identifies energy-intensive companies by the following criteria: 1) purchases of energy products and electricity amount to at least 3% of the production value and/ or 2) the energy, carbon dioxide, and sulphur taxes on energy products and electricity used by the company amount to at least 0.5% of the added value (Stenqvist and Nilsson, 2012:228). ...
The easiest, quickest and cheapest way to reduce energy consumption is to improve energy efficiency, the invisible fuel. The IEA energy efficiency market report 2014 confirms energy efficiency as the “first fuel”.The importance of energy efficiency in energy policy has been highlighted for the first time by Amory Lovins in 1976 in a, now famous, paper "Energy Strategy: The Road not Taken". In this paper, Amory Lovins diagnoses an inefficient use of energy resources, resulting in an efficiency deficit: the "energy-efficiency gap".
Improving energy efficiency is the primary pillar of the Energy Strategy 2050 (ES2050) of the Swiss government.
Although energy efficiency in Swiss companies is an important issue for more than two decades, there are only a few studies and analyses on the issue of energy-efficiency gap and of energy efficiency decisions by firms in Switzerland.
Switzerland’s public policy efforts to curb energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as their results, reflect those of many other countries: these policies have often obtained encouraging results, but there is still significant potential in many companies to reduce energy consumption. If all energy-saving measures were introduced in services and industry, energy consumption in these sectors would be around 15% lower (Energy Strategy 2050, first series of measures, Swiss Federal Office of Energy, 13 September 2012)” .
According to the International Energy Agency, if current trends continue in the years to come, two thirds of the economic potential to improve energy-efficiency will remain untapped until 2035 (Benoit et al., 2014a).
For more than four decades now, scholars and practitioners have discussed the reality of an energy-efficiency gap or have tried to explain it, generating an abundant literature.
In this research we want to investigate the influence of energy management as a way to reduce the energy-efficiency gap in private (for-profit) large-scale energy consumers, and thus increase their energy performance.
The overarching objective of the project is to gain a better understanding of energy-efficiency investments drivers. This, in turn, will contribute to conceive and implement adequate policy measures and regulations aiming to reduce the energy-efficiency gap and to improve energy performance in private firms.
The present inception report aims to form the basis for the work of M_Key Management as a Key Driver of Energy Performance,
a project of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) National Research Programme “Managing Energy Consumption” (NRP71) http://www.nrp71.ch/en
Hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria (HOB) can utilize hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide as electron donor, electron acceptor, and carbon source, respectively. These bacteria can convert hydrogen and carbon dioxide to biomass which is different from hydrophilic denitrification. “Power to HOB”, a new supplementary to “Power to Gas”, was proposed and demonstrated in this study, in which HOB were cultivated via in-situ consuming hydrogen generated by water electrolysis. The objects of this work were to explore the effect of current density on HOB activity and microbial community. The results showed good activity of enriched HOB that the nitrate consumption rate was 21 mg/L/d in batch and continuous modes under the current density (CD) of 2.14 mA/cm². The cyclic voltammetry curve demonstrated the electric activity of HOB that redox peaks were 0.330 V and 0.195 V at corresponding CDs of 2.14 mA/cm² and 4.29 mA/cm², respectively. Finally, the community spectra revealed that the percentage of Cupriavidus sp. TA19 decreased by 15.59% (2.14 mA/cm² vs 4.29 mA/cm²), and Pseudonocardia sp. YK32 increased by 38.31%. Moreover, Cupriavidus sp. TA19 was reported as HOB for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA, degradable plastics) production. Pseudonocardia sp. YK32 was also reported as HOB and the function was unknown. Thus, “Power to HOB” can be a new supplementary to “Power to Gas” and the results extend HOB applications.
High temperature co-electrolysis can be a promising technology for the transformation of energy systems as it enables sector coupling and carbon dioxide utilization. In this article, we analyze the optimal layout and operation of distributed electrolysis sites powered exclusively by local renewable energy sources and a local battery storage device for current techno-economic parameters. For this purpose an energy system model with a spatial resolution of 277 regions within Europe is set up, which facilitates the analysis of intermittent renewable electricity generation, a battery storage device and the innovative high temperature co-electrolysis. We discuss the techno-economic competitiveness and analyze potential leverage points for improvement such as an enhanced flexibility. The lowest costs are found in Lincolnshire with 0.24 €/kWh and the highest costs in Central Slovakia with 0.49 €/kWh differing by more than a factor of two. Remarkably, several locations with vastly different resources and layouts lead to a similar techno-economic performance of the investigated system. We compare the techno-economic performance of high temperature co-electrolysis with steam methane reforming as the conventional synthesis gas production route.
The identification of critical sectors at the provincial level is important for achieving China's CO2 mitigation target. Previous studies have mainly adopted production-based or consumption-based methods to identify critical sectors on two sides of the supply chain. Some sectors located in the intermediate parts of the supply chains are commonly ignored but are critical transmission centers for CO2 emissions. In this study, we use a betweenness-based method based on multi-regional input-output tables to identify critical provincial transmission sectors for CO2 emissions in China in 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2015. The results show that some critical provincial transmission sectors are overlooked by production-based or consumption-based methods but transmit vast amounts of CO2 emissions in the intermediate supply chains, such as the Metal products in Hebei, and the Smelting and pressing of ferrous and nonferrous metals in Gansu. Moreover, critical provincial transmission sectors vary among different provinces and exhibit different patterns in different years. Most critical provincial transmission sectors were located in the northern, central and eastern coastal regions in 2007 and 2010, then shifted to the western region in 2012. In 2015, these sectors were mainly located in the central and eastern coastal regions. Analyzing the spatiotemporal variations in critical provincial transmission sectors can contribute to region-specific policy formulation for CO2 emission mitigation. Improving the intermediate input efficiency may also contribute to CO2 emission mitigation, such as tax breaks or subsidies in critical provincial transmission sectors. It is important to consider betweenness-based results as a complement to policy decisions.
The market is searching for solutions to reduce emissions in the energy sector by increasing the consumer efficiency and flexibility and integrating renewable sources. Prosumers are suited to this role and are increasingly considered crucial to any such solution. Small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) that need to upgrade their energy infrastructure, due to equipment obsolescence or external pressures to adopt greener technologies, face difficulties in integrating new energy management strategies given the investment required and the payback periods. Industrial SMEs traditionally seek to make on-off investments with fast returns, exploiting the obtained equipment for its whole lifetime. Therefore, this paper presents a novel methodology to determine the optimal sizing and operation of the energy infrastructure for an industrial SME transitioning to a prosumer model to improve its economic perspectives, considering the exploitation of the infrastructure for its complete lifetime. The energy and economic profiles of SMEs are analysed and their energy infrastructure modelled in order to define the sizing and operation optimisation problem. Operation of the equipment is optimised considering weekly cycles along multiple years, obtaining the net present value of the investment. The proposed methodology, which employs direct search and linear programming techniques, enable industrial SMEs to undertake informed energy investment actions. A real manufacturing plant is described, characterized and used as the basis for a case study. The results show the economic feasibility of installing new energy equipment in SMEs, obtaining payback periods less than five years and final investment value of more than ten times the initial expense.
Energy intensive processing industries, such as the chemical industry, face barriers when justifying clean energy investments because costs of implementation for environmental impact reductions are too high relative to the perceived benefit. One way to lower the barrier for environmental investments within these industries is to create the business case with specialty products. The problem is that specialty products represent a small fraction of overall production, and clean energy upgrades to the company’s power production are typically shared among all products, diluting the value of the new investment. To incentivize environmental impact reducing investments this study illustrates an energy apportionment approach that concentrates the environmental improvements and costs strategically to the products where the market is willing to pay for the added value. The approach is illustrated via a case of a chemical plant where two types of upgrades (natural gas or solar) are considered according to costs and climate change impact reduction.
Latent heat thermal energy storages (LHTES) utilize a material’s phase transition to store energy at an almost constant temperature. To fully exploit their high energy density, reliable state estimation is essential, which requires a suitable model-based observer. In previous works, high-precision and real-time-capable models have been developed to solve the arising coupled Navier-Stokes and energy equations. In the present work, these high-order nonlinear models are applied to predict (simulate) the states of the LHTES one time step ahead. Then, an extended Kalman filter uses a reduced-order observer model derived from the prediction model by linearization and balanced truncation to compute a state update based on measurements. This approach increases both, computational efficiency and performance, since the observer can only update the state of the prediction model compliant to its dominant behavior. Different types of measurements can be accurately combined in the observer, resulting in fast convergence despite model errors.
Hydrogen production using water electrolysers equiped with an anion exchange membrane (AEM), a pure water feed and cheap components such as platinum group metal-free catalysts and stainless steel bipolar plates (BPP) can challenge proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis systems as the state of the art. For this to happen the performance of the AEM electrolyzer must match the compact design, stability, H2 purity and high current densities of PEM systems. Current research aims at bringing AEM water electrolysis technology to an advanced level in terms of electrolysis cell performance. Such technological advances must be accompanied by demonstration of the cost advantages of AEM systems. The current state of the art in AEM water electrolysis is defined by sporadic reports in the academic literature mostly dealing with catalyst or membrane development. The development of this technology requires a future roadmap for systematic development and commercialization of AEM systems and components. This will include basic and applied research, technology development & integration, and testing at a laboratory scale of small demonstration units (AEM electrolyzer shortstacks) that can be used to validate the technology (from TRL 2-3 currently to TRL 4-5). This review paper gathers together recent important research in critical materials development (catalysts, membranes and MEAs) and operating conditions (electrolyte composition, cell temperature, performance achievements). The aim of this review is to identify the current level of materials development and where improvements are required in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology. Once the challenges of materials development are overcome, AEM water electrolysis can drive the future use of hydrogen as energy storage vector on a large scale (GW) especially in developing countries.
The central kitchen model has promoted the industrialization of the catering industry. The quality of central kitchen products is related to processing technology. The new non-thermal technology and heating technology not only have advantages over traditional technologies in improving product quality and safety, but also have more precise control over the processing process and a higher degree of automation. Using non-thermal technology conditioning before cooking can change the properties of food ingredients, and improve the quality and safety of cooked food. The new heating technology replaces the traditional heating method to provide thermal energy for food cooking, and has the advantages of shortening cooking time, improving quality attributes, improving processing efficiency and product safety. This article reviews the application and research progress of non-heating and heating technologies in fresh food processing in the central kitchen.
The creation of a market for steel produced by less carbon-intensive production processes, here called ‘green steel’, has been identified as a means of supporting the introduction of breakthrough emission reduction technologies into steel production. However, numerous details remain under-explored, including exactly what ‘green’ entails in the context of steelmaking, the likely competitiveness of green steel products in domestic and international markets, and potential policy mechanisms to support their successful market penetration. This paper addresses this gap through qualitative research with international sustainability experts and commercial managers from leading steel trade associations, research institutes and steelmakers. We find that there is a need to establish a common understanding of what ‘greenness’ means in the steelmaking context, and to resolve various carbon accounting and assurance issues, which otherwise have the potential to lead to perverse outcomes and opportunities for greenwashing. We identify a set of potential demand-side and supply-side policy mechanisms to support green steel production, and highlight a need for a combination of policies to ensure successful market development and avoid unintended consequences for competition at three different levels: 1) between products manufactured through a primary vs secondary steelmaking route, 2) between ‘green’ and traditional, ‘brown’ steel, and 3) with other substitutable materials. The study further shows that the automotive industry is a likely candidate for green steel demand, where a market could be supported by price premiums paid by willing consumers, such as those of high-end luxury and heavy-duty vehicles.
The energy intensive industry, producing basic materials, is responsible for 25 to 30% of today's global greenhouse gas emissions. The future supply of GHG neutral basic materials (e.g. steel, cement, aluminium, plastics, etc.) is a necessity for building a sustainable modern society. Deep decarbonisation of the energy intensive industries is technically possible but will require a major systemic shift in production processes and energy carriers used, which will require major public support in the form of subsidies and high carbon prices. One major barrier for implementing ambitious climate policies targeting energy intensive industries is the inherent conflict between the global nature of energy intensive industries and the existing climate policy framework that is based on nation states taking action according to the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. This approach could lead to carbon leakage and the introduction of carbon trade measures has been the default proposition from academics to ameliorate these concerns. However, another way is to define the task of decarbonizing EIIs as a global task and not as a purely national matter and to cooperate internationally. In this chapter we analyse what it takes to decarbonize energy intensive industry and what implications this transition can have for trade. From here we explore the opportunities for enhanced cooperation for deep decarbonisation for EIIs within the Paris Agreement. We argue for international cooperation by establishing a green materials club that would focus on long-term technology development. This could be a viable way to ease the current short-term conflicts and mitigate the need for a carbon tariff. However, a green materials club would still be a part of a wider discussion around what is considered
The European steel industry must achieve deep greenhouse gas emission reductions to become climate neutral by 2050. New business models are often proposed as one of the key solutions but are mostly addressed in general terms, without elaborating on or systematically analyzing how these new business models are actually linked to specific mitigation measures or strategies. In this paper, we assess when and to what extent different emission reduction strategies in the EU steel industry have implications for business model innovation. Through a review of 42 recent publications on industrial decarbonization, we identify 9 types of decarbonization strategies for steelmaking and their emission reduction potential. The strategies achieve emission reductions through material efficiency, emission efficiency, or a combination of both. For each strategy, we analyze the need for incremental or radical changes in business models on the basis of a thorough reading of the business model literature. Our findings show that EU steel firms can pursue several strategies to decarbonize without having to radically innovate their business models. Importantly, material efficiency strategies, arguably key to decarbonization, imply more radical changes to business models than emission efficiency strategies. Our study is a first contribution to the systematic assessment of industrial decarbonization strategies from a business model perspective. It is also an attempt to bring more rigor to the understanding of the role of business models in industrial decarbonization.
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a combination of technologies capable of achieving large-scale reductions in carbon dioxide emissions across a variety of industries. Its application to date has however been mostly limited to the power sector, despite emissions from other industrial sectors accounting for around 30% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This paper explores the challenges of and requirements for implementing CCUS in non-power industrial sectors in general, and in the steel sector in particular, to identify drivers for the technology’s commercialization. To do so we first conducted a comprehensive literature review of business models of existing large-scale CCUS projects. We then collected primary qualitative data through a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with global CCUS experts from industry, academia, government, and consultancies. Our results reveal that the revenue model is the most critical element to building successful CCUS business models, around which the following elements are structured: funding sources, capital & ownership structure, and risk management/allocation. One promising mechanism to subsidize the additional costs associated with the introduction of CCUS to industry is the creation of a ‘low-carbon product market’, while the creation of clear risk-allocation systems along the full CCUS chain is particularly highlighted. The application of CCUS as an enabling emission reduction technology is further shown to be a factor of consumer and shareholder pressures, pressing environmental standards, ethical resourcing, resource efficiency, and first-mover advantages in an emerging market. This paper addresses the knowledge gap which exists in identifying viable CCUS business models in the industrial sector which, with the exception of a few industry reports, remains poorly explored in the academic literature.
In a hybrid steam/latent heat storage concept as previously proposed, containers filled with phase change material (PCM) are installed at the shell surface of a Ruths steam storage (RSS) to increase storage capacity through retrofitting. The detailed knowledge of the thermophysical behavior of such a concept is crucial to exploit its full potential. For this purpose, a novel high-fidelity co-simulation model is developed in this work, implementing an efficient and accurate thermal coupling concept of a dynamic RSS model with detailed conduction/convection PCM cell models. It accounts for the significant influence of angular position and orientation of the PCM cells at the RSS shell surface as well as the filling level in the RSS. To reduce computational effort, the PCM cells are logically aggregated to PCM sectors with similar thermodynamic behavior using a new optimization method that minimizes the total error. Therefore, quantitative criteria to find an optimized PCM cell aggregation are formulated. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed reduced-complexity co-simulation is demonstrated in typical operation modes of the hybrid storage. In the simulation study, the error can be reduced from 4.5 % to 0.5 % by using the newly developed optimal aggregation criteria. The computation time can be shortened up to 73 %, whereby equally accurate results can be achieved compared to a model with high resolution. The developed co-simulation model serves as a foundation for design optimization, model reduction, dynamic state-of-charge estimation, and ultimately enables model-based control.
With the adoption/diffusion of clean technologies, it is possible to reach most of the required amount of emission reduction to address climate change. In this regard, identifying its variables and understanding the adoption process deeply will help to accelerate clean technology adoption (CTA) and develop effective policies and strategies on clean technologies. The aim of this study is to determine the CTA process through a new model based on the Technology-Organization-Environment Framework (TOE) applied to mineral products industry in Turkey. The results revealed that the CTA is considerably affected by technological and organizational factors but not by external environmental factor. Among these factors, complexity, relative advantage and compatibility of the technology, human resource quality and firm vision are listed as key. In addition, the results showed a difference between CTA levels in terms of technological and organizational factors, and CTA is positively affected by the level of R&D activities of the firm.
The majority of energy being used is obtained from fossil fuels, which are not renewable resources and require a longer time to recharge or return to its original capacity. Energy from fossil fuels is cheaper but it faces some challenges compared to renewable energy resources. Thus, one of the most potential candidates to fulfil the energy requirements are renewable resources and the most environmentally friendly fuel is Hydrogen. Hydrogen is a clean and efficient energy carrier and a hydrogen-based economy is now widely regarded as a potential solution for the future of energy security and sustainability. Hydrogen energy became the most significant energy as the current demand gradually starts to increase. It is an important key solution to tackle the global temperature rise. The key important factor of hydrogen production is the hydrogen economy. Hydrogen production technologies are commercially available, while some of these technologies are still under development. Therefore, the global interest in minimising the effects of greenhouse gases as well as other pollutant gases also increases. In order to investigate hydrogen implementation as a fuel or energy carrier, easily obtained broad-spectrum knowledge on a variety of processes is involved as well as their advantages, disadvantages, and potential adjustments in making a process that is fit for future development. Aside from directly using the hydrogen produced from these processes in fuel cells, streams rich with hydrogen can also be utilised in producing ethanol, methanol, gasoline as well as various chemicals of high value. This paper provided a brief summary on the current and developing technologies of hydrogen that are noteworthy.
A battery is a chemistry appliance that contains one or additional electrochemical cells and has the potential to convert hold on energy into electricity. Within the last hundred years, batteries have penetrated everyday human life dramatically, with a good vary of applications from mobile phones to electric cars in the contemporary years. The big availableness of diversified kinds of electrodes has inspired the event of different types of batteries that have different capabilities in style, size, capacity, energy, and energy. Battery applications grow apace, increasing the demand for resources. Rechargeable the battery could be a necessity to scale back the paucity of scarce resources and eliminate the pollution of unsafe elements.
In this chapter, we will highlight the contribution of rechargeable batteries in some way to greenhouse gas emissions and thus to global warming. The types of battery failures and strive to reduce the presence of metal particles and the safety requirements when manufactured and charged.
Fossil fuels have been the cornerstone of our energy infrastructure for a number of centuries now. In recent decades, there has been an emergence of bioenergy and hydrogen as a modern energy source to supply our civilization. Despite this, fossil fuels are still the main energy source for our society, slowing the adaptation of hydrogen and biomass technologies. In this chapter, the history and current utilization of hydrogen and biomass energy are discussed to identify the adaptation of these energy sources.
The energy intensive industry, producing basic materials, is responsible for 25 to 30% of today's global greenhouse gas emissions. The future supply of GHG neutral basic materials (e.g. steel, cement, aluminium, plastics, etc.) is a necessity for building a sustainable modern society. Deep decarbonisation of the energy intensive industries is technically possible but will require a major systemic shift in production processes and energy carriers used, which will require large public support in the form of subsidies and high carbon prices. A key barrier for implementing ambitious climate policies targeting energy intensive industries is the inherent conflict between the global nature of energy intensive industries and the existing climate policy framework that is based on nation states taking action according to the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". This approach could lead to carbon leakage and the introduction of carbon trade measures has been the default proposition from academics to ameliorate these concerns. However, another way is to define the task of decarbonizing EIIs as a global task and not as a purely national matter and to cooperate internationally. In this paper we analyse what it takes to decarbonize energy intensive industry and what implications this transition can have for trade. From here we explore the opportunities for enhanced cooperation for deep decarbonisation for EIIs within the Paris Agreement. We argue for international cooperation by establishing a green materials club that would focus on long-term technology development. This could be a viable way to ease the current short-term conflicts and mitigate the need for carbon tariffs. However, a green materials club should still be a part of a wider discussion around what is considered fair trade practices under the climate convention and how this relates to national interest and industrial policy for the decarbonisation of basic materials production.
Methane leaks in natural gas systems are low-hanging fruit for near-term, locally driven climate policy. Recent work suggests this emissions source is larger than previously believed and that repairing a small number of high emitters can cost-effectively reduce system-wide leakage. How successful are these repairs on the ground? Here, we assess the effectiveness of repair policies in the Massachusetts distribution system. Our analysis leverages state-wide utility data, on-site empirical measurements, stakeholder interviews, and document and legal analysis. We use these mixed methods to investigate the rate of repair failure, where a gas utility identifies and fixes a leak, but on-site emissions are not eliminated. We find that repair failures are relatively common, yet they are repeatedly neglected in policy. By not accounting for repair failures, policy may overestimate the effectiveness of distribution system repairs in meeting local greenhouse gas reduction targets. These results also underscore the importance of data transparency for monitoring and verifying subnational climate policies.
In this paper, the optimization of the energy equipment of a factory to be used for meeting the internal demand and to exploit them against the external energy market, adopting a prosumer behaviour that actively bids energy with the utility grid, is studied. The energy infrastructure of the industrial plant is modelled and the sizing optimization problem is mathematically defined and solved using Genetic Algorithms. Four scenarios are considered regarding energy management strategies: Do-nothing, self-consumption, prosumer with non-optimal installation and prosumer with the optimal installation. Results show that the prosumer with optimal installation outperforms other scenarios achieving total energy savings of 47% and a payback period of 8 years, enhancing the participation of industry in the upcoming energy market where distributed energy sources and flexible active clients will have a significant role towards decarbonisation.
Carbon quantum dots (CQD) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have been mentioned frequently. They have been selected in recent studies as they have unique and remarkable potential, especially in electrical, optical, and optoelectrical properties. CQD and GQDs have very high chemical and physical stability due to inherent inert carbon material, thus newly recognized as a kind of quantum dots material. Its environmentally friendly, non‐toxic, and naturally inactive nature is also a major attraction for scientists around the world. In this work, CQD and GQDs production methods are discussed in detail, including soft‐template method, hydrothermal method, microwave‐assisted hydrothermal (MAH) method, metal‐catalyzed method, liquid exfoliation method, electron beam lithography method, and others. Additive material has been introduced in CQD and GQDs to increase the ability and performance of CQD and GQDs such as nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, fluorine, and potassium. In particular, the presence of additive material in CQD and GQDs shows an advantage in terms of energy level, which is very good at achieving specific requirements in properties such as optical, electrical, and optoelectrical. In addition, the existence of functional groups consisting of heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, boron, and so on of zero‐dimensional carbon materials in providing an overabundance of the active electrochemical site for the reaction. The product of CQD and GQDs has various shapes and sizes influenced by several parameters such as synthesis temperature, growth time, source concentration, catalyst, and so on. The application of CQDs and GQDs composites in fuel cells has been clearly and scientifically stated as it has enhanced the performance of fuel cell technology.
The glass industry is part of the energy-intensive industry posing a major challenge to fulfill the CO2 reduction targets of the Paris Climate Agreement. The segments of the glass industry, e.g., container or flat glass, are quite diverse and attribute to different glass products with different requirements to product quality and various process options. To address the challenge of decarbonizing the glass industry, firstly, an inventory of current glass products, processes and applied technologies in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions is conducted. Secondly, decarbonization options are identified and structured according to fuel substitution, waste heat recovery and process intensification. Due to the high share of energy-related CO2 emissions, electrical melting and hydrogen combustion, or a combination of both, are the most promising options to decarbonize the glass industry but further research, design adjustments and process improvements are necessary. Furthermore, electricity and hydrogen prices have to decrease or fossil fuels must become more expensive, to be cost-competitive relative to fossil fuels and respective infrastructures have to be constructed or adjusted. Various heat recovery options have great potential for CO2 savings but can be technically challenging or have not yet been considered for techno-economic reasons.
textlessSABStextgreaterSince it has been suggested that there is an energy-efficiency gap between actual and optimal energy use, the critical question is how to define the optimal level of energy efficiency. Five separate and distinct notions of optimality are presented.textless/SABStextgreater
Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) is the International Energy Agency's most ambitious publication on energy technology. It demonstrates how technologies – from electric vehicles to smart grids – can make a decisive difference in limiting climate change and enhancing energy security. ETP 2012 presents detailed scenarios and strategies to 2050. It is an indispensible guide for decision makers on energy trends and what needs to be done to build a clean, secure and competitive energy future. ETP 2012 shows: ■ current progress on clean energy deployment, and what can be done to accelerate it; ■ how energy security and low carbon energy are linked; ■ how energy systems will become more complex in the future, why systems integration is beneficial and how it can be achieved; ■ how demand for heating and cooling will evolve dramatically and which solutions will satisfy it; ■ why flexible electricity systems are increasingly important, and how a system with smarter grids, energy storage and flexible generation can work; ■ why hydrogen could play a big role in the energy system of the future; ■ why fossil fuels will not disappear but will see their roles change, and what it means for the energy system as a whole; ■ what is needed to realise the potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS); ■ whether available technologies can allow the world to have zero energy related emissions by 2075 – which seems a necessary condition for the world to meet the 2°C target.
The petroleum refining industry in the United States is the largest in the world, providing inputs to virtually any economic sector,including the transport sector and the chemical industry. The industry operates 146 refineries (as of January 2004) around the country,employing over 65,000 employees. The refining industry produces a mix of products with a total value exceeding $151 billion. Refineries spend typically 50 percent of cash operating costs (i.e., excluding capital costs and depreciation) on energy, making energy a major cost factor and also an important opportunity for cost reduction. Energy use is also a major source of emissions in the refinery industry making energy efficiency improvement an attractive opportunity to reduce emissions and operating costs. Voluntary government programs aim to assist industry to improve competitiveness through increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. ENERGY STAR (R), a voluntary program managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stresses the need for strong and strategic corporate energy management programs. ENERGY STAR provides energy management tools and strategies for successful corporate energy management programs. This Energy Guide describes research conducted to support ENERGY STAR and its work with the petroleum refining industry.This research provides information on potential energy efficiency opportunities for petroleum refineries. This Energy Guide introduces energy efficiency opportunities available for petroleum refineries. It begins with descriptions of the trends, structure, and production of the refining industry and the energy used in the refining and conversion processes. Specific energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies of plants and references to technical literature are provided. If available, typical payback periods are also listed. The Energy Guide draws upon the experiences with energy efficiency measures of petroleum refineries worldwide. The findings suggest that given available resources and technology, there are opportunities to reduce energy consumption cost-effectively in the petroleum refining industry while maintaining the quality of the products manufactured. Further research on the economics of the measures, as well as the applicability of these to individual refineries, is needed to assess the feasibility of implementation of selected technologies at individual plants.
Steam systems are a part of almost every major industrial process today. Thirty-seven percent of the fossil fuel burned in US industry is burned to produce steam. In this paper we will establish baseline energy consumption for steam systems. Based on a detailed analysis of boiler energy use we estimate current energy use in boilers in U.S. industry at 6.1 Quads (6.4 EJ), emitting almost 66 MtC in COâ emissions. We will discuss fuels used and boiler size distribution. We also describe potential savings measures, and estimate the economic energy savings potential in U.S. industry (i.e. having payback period of 3 years or less). We estimate the nationwide economic potential, based on the evaluation of 16 individual measures in steam generation and distribution. The analysis excludes the efficient use of steam and increased heat recovery. Based on the analysis we estimate the economic potential at 18-20% of total boiler energy use, resulting in energy savings approximately 1120-1190 TBtu ( 1180-1260 PJ). This results in a reduction of COâ emissions equivalent to 12-13 MtC.
This Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report provides information for policymakers, scientists and engineers in the field of climate change and reduction of COâ emissions. It describes sources, capture, transport, and storage of COâ. It also discusses the costs, economic potential, and societal issues of the technology, including public perception and regulatory aspects. Storage options evaluated include geological storage, ocean storage, and mineral carbonation. Notably, the report places COâ capture and storage in the context of other climate change mitigation options, such as fuel switch, energy efficiency, renewables and nuclear energy. This report shows that the potential of COâ capture and storage is considerable, and the costs for mitigating climate change can be decreased compared to strategies where only other climate change mitigation options are considered. The importance of future capture and storage of COâ for mitigating climate change will depend on a number of factors, including financial incentives provided for deployment, and whether the risks of storage can be successfully managed. The volume includes a Summary for Policymakers approved by governments represented in the IPCC, and a Technical Summary. 5 annexes.
The cost of energy as part of the total production costs in the cement industry is significant, warranting attention for energy efficiency to improve the bottom line. Historically, energy intensity has declined, although more recently energy intensity seems to have stabilized with the gains. Coal and coke are currently the primary fuels for the sector, supplanting the dominance of natural gas in the 1970s. Most recently, there is a slight increase in the use of waste fuels, including tires. Between 1970 and 1999, primary physical energy intensity for cement production dropped 1 percent/year from 7.3 MBtu/short ton to 5.3 MBtu/short ton. Carbon dioxide intensity due to fuel consumption and raw material calcination dropped 16 percent, from 609 lb. C/ton of cement (0.31 tC/tonne) to 510 lb. C/ton cement (0.26 tC/tonne). Despite the historic progress, there is ample room for energy efficiency improvement. The relatively high share of wet-process plants (25 percent of clinker production in 1999 in the U.S.) suggests the existence of a considerable potential, when compared to other industrialized countries. We examined over 40 energy efficient technologies and measures and estimated energy savings, carbon dioxide savings, investment costs, and operation and maintenance costs for each of the measures. The report describes the measures and experiences of cement plants around the wold with these practices and technologies. Substantial potential for energy efficiency improvement exists in the cement industry and in individual plants. A portion of this potential will be achieved as part of (natural) modernization and expansion of existing facilities, as well as construction of new plants in particular regions. Still, a relatively large potential for improved energy management practices exists.
Experience with implementation of CO2 taxes spans almost a decade in the Nordic countries, and time is ripe for an evaluation of their performance. In contrast to ex-ante forecasts, empirical research can show the extent to which such taxes deliver on the assumptions of economic theory. A survey of the existing literature shows that there are currently 20 ex-post studies of the full or partial effects of CO2 taxes. Evaluations are complicated by frequent changes in tax rates, widespread exemptions and the `too many variables' problem. Attempts have been made to deal with these problems by using a variety of approaches and research techniques, some more advanced than others. On balance the studies appear to show that emissions have been curbed when compared to businessas-usual forecasts, while absolute CO2 reduction remains the exception. Among the Nordic countries, Denmark's scheme, which combines taxes with subsidies for energy efficiency, seems to have attained the most marked results, although the achieved reductions also reflect the higher carbon content of the Danish energy sector. The evaluations differ considerably in scope, approach and methodology. Methodological issues connected with expost evaluation are considered. An adequate evaluation of the impact of the CO2 taxes, in both environmental and economic terms, will require the establishment of comprehensive panel databases of energy consumers.
The present work was focused on a technical and economical evaluation of two distinct CO2 capture technologies applied to an FCC unit, namely amine absorption and oxyfired FCC. All capital costs, utility requirements and chemical consumption of each technology were determined in order to allow the calculation of CO2 capture and avoided costs. The results showed a 45% decrease in CO2 capture cost for oxyfiring technology compared to the amine absorption alternative. As for the technical feasibility of oxyfiring in the FCC regenerator, a series of bench and pilot plant scale tests were performed. Product profile, stability of operation and the effectiveness of coke burn were evaluated. No significant changes from normal operation were observed.
This chapter provides an overview of the pig-iron and steel sectors in Brazil. The chapter discusses the Plantar project, which was designed in Brazil according to the clean development mechanism (CDM) rules agreed upon under the Kyoto Protocol. The Plantar project is located in the municipalities of Sete Lagoas, Curvelo, and Felixlândia, the State of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast of Brazil. The project is based on fuel switching in the iron industry: it avoids the use of coal coke in the production of pig iron by using sustainable charcoal instead. The Plantar project provides a new model for financing the charcoal-based pig-iron industry in Minas Gerais, Brazil, allowing for the survival of independent producers and the plantation forestry sectors in the region. The project also avoids greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This new business model could help attract substantial additional foreign investment to the country, with positive effects to the Brazilian balance of payments. Because of the focus of this project on the small independent producers, there are also important benefits to be accrued from wealth distribution and development of small and medium sized enterprises.
Over the past decade, the prospect of climate change resulting from anthropogenic CO2 has become a matter of growing public concern. Not only is the reduction of CO2 emissions extremely important, but keeping the cost at a manageable level is a prime priority for companies and the public, alike. The CO2 capture project (CCP) came together with a common goal in mind: find a technological process to capture CO2 emissions that is relatively low-cost and able be to be expanded to industrial applications. The Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project outlines the research and findings of all the participating companies and associations involved in the CCP. The final results of thousands of hours of research are outlined in the book, showing a successful achievement of the CCP's goals for lower cost CO2 capture technology and furthering the safe, reliable option of geological storage. The Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project is a valuable reference for any scientists, industrialists, government agencies, and companies interested in a safer, more cost-efficient response to the CO2 crisis. *Succeeds in tackling the most important issues at the heart of the CO2 crisis: lower-cost and safer solutions, and making the technology available at an industrial level. *Contains technical papers and findings of all researchers involved in the CO2 capture and storage project (CCP) *Consolidates thousands of hours of research into a concise and valuable reference work, providing up-to-the minute information on CO2 capture and underground storage alternatives.
A halving of global greenhouse gas emissions is needed between now and 2050. This will require an energy technology revolution. All options must be used: energy efficiency, CO 2-free fuels and CO2 capture and storage. The power sector will be especially affected and the global average carbon intensity of electricity needs to be reduced by one order of magnitude. A mix of renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels with CCS will be needed to achieve this goal. This development will affect gas turbine sales and their development.
Besides covering topics like catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, and alkylation, this volume has chapters on waste water treatment and the economics of managing or commissioning the design of a petroleum refinery. Found only in this volume is material on operating a jointly owned and operated refinery. (Over the last decade, the ownership of many refineries has shifted to small companies, from the large, integrated companies. Because of this shift, many refineries are now jointly owned and operated.) Filled with handy process flow diagrams, this volume is the only reference that a chemical engineer or process manager in a petroleum refinery needs for answers to everyday process and operations questions. * Covers the technologies and operations of petroleum refineries * Provides material on operating a jointly owned and operated refinery * Gives readers a comprehensive introduction to petroleum refining, as well as a full reference to engineers in the field.
CO2 Capture Project (CCP) has three distinct elements-pre-combustion de-carbonization; the use of oxygen-rich combustion systems; and Post-combustion CO2 recovery. For each element, technologies are developed in the context of certain scenarios that relate to combustion sources and fuels common to the operations of the CCP participants. Four scenarios are considered-large gas-fired turbine combined cycle power generation; small- or medium-sized simple cycle gas turbines (GTs); petroleum coke gasification; and refinery and petrochemical complex heaters and boilers. In order to evaluate any new or novel technology, baseline studies are required that quantify the current best available technology. The study assesses generic issues that are common to any retro-fit post-combustion CO2 Capture Project, and provides a suitable baseline against which developing technologies can be evaluated. Within the post-combustion element, the CCP concluded that amine scrubbing is the best available technology for CO2 capture.
This article presents a consistent techno-economic assessment and comparison of CO2 capture technologies for key industrial sectors (iron and steel, cement, petroleum refineries and petrochemicals). The assessment is based on an extensive literature review, covering studies from both industries and academia. Key parameters, e.g., capacity factor (91–97%), energy prices (natural gas: 8 €2007/GJ, coal: 2.5 €2007/GJ, grid electricity: 55 €/MWh), interest rate (10%), economic plant lifetime (20 years), CO2 compression pressure (110 bar), and grid electricity CO2 intensity (400 g/kWh), were standardized to enable a fair comparison of technologies. The analysis focuses on the changes in energy, CO2 emissions and material flows, due to the deployment of CO2 capture technologies. CO2 capture technologies are categorized into short-mid term (ST/MT) and long term (LT) technologies. The findings of this study identified a large number of technologies under development, but it is too soon to identify which technologies would become dominant in the future. Moreover, a good integration of industrial plants and power plants is essential for cost-effective CO2 capture because CO2 capture may increase the industrial onsite electricity production significantly.
For the iron and steel sector, 40–65 €/tCO2 avoided may be achieved in the ST/MT, depending on the ironmaking process and the CO2 capture technique. Advanced LT CO2 capture technologies for the blast furnace based process may not offer significant advantages over conventional ones (30–55 €/tCO2 avoided). Rather than the performance of CO2 capture technique itself, low-cost CO2 emissions reduction comes from good integration of CO2 capture to the ironmaking process. Advanced smelting reduction with integrated CO2 capture may enable lower steel production cost and lower CO2 emissions than the blast furnace based process, i.e., negative CO2 mitigation cost. For the cement sector, post-combustion capture appears to be the only commercial technology in the ST/MT and the costs are above 65 €/tCO2 avoided. In the LT, a number of technologies may enable 25–55 €/tCO2 avoided. The findings also indicate that, in some cases, partial CO2 capture may have comparative advantages. For the refining and petrochemical sectors, oxyfuel capture was found to be more economical than others at 50–60 €/tCO2 avoided in ST/MT and about 30 €/tCO2 avoided in the LT. However, oxyfuel retrofit of furnaces and heaters may be more complicated than that of boilers.
Crude estimates of technical potentials for global CO2 emissions reduction for 2030 were made for the industrial processes investigated with the ST/MT technologies. They amount up to about 4 Gt/yr: 1 Gt/yr for the iron and steel sector, about 2 Gt/yr for the cement sector, and 1 Gt/yr for petroleum refineries. The actual deployment level would be much lower due to various constraints, about 0.8 Gt/yr, in a stringent emissions reduction scenario.
In an integrated iron and steel works an interlinked energy network exists between the blast furnace and coking plant when blast furnaces are supplied with coke from a coking plant. From the coke oven raw gas treatment by-products like tar, benzole and sulphur are recovered. Profitability reasons gave rise to numerous deliberations and attempts made in the past to utilise the raw gas from the coking process for a different purpose. An alternative would be the so-called 2-Product Coking Plant, where - besides coke - either energy, reduction gas, hydrogen or methanol is produced, depending on the coke oven raw gas treatment Another interesting alternative is the production of DRI utilising coke oven gas as reducing agent The DRI produced can be used in the blast furnace, in the converter, or in the electric arc furnace.
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses that there is a large, well-established, commercial hydrogen production industry. Essentially all this hydrogen is made from fossil fuels, mostly natural gas. In addition, this hydrogen production involves the generation of large amounts of CO2 and utilizes hydrogen-CO2 separation technologies. Therefore, the cost of CO2 capture for geologic storage could be lower in hydrogen production than for other potential CO2 capture applications. This chapter addresses the cost and performance of hydrogen production from various fuels with and without CO2 capture for geologic storage. This transparent and consistent analysis will include both commercial and advanced technologies to show current costs and the potential for reducing hydrogen and CO2 capture costs in the future. It is based on several recent analyses of hydrogen production costs.
Tackling carbon leakage: sector-specific solutions for a world of unequal carbon prices. Carbon Trust
Isopropanol (IPA) is a major solvent in the semiconductor industry. During production, IPA is often obtained as an aqueous mixture that forms an azeotrope. Azeotropic distillation, commonly used to separate the azeotrope, has high energy requirements. The current work explores hybrid processes pairing distillation with temperature swing adsorption (TSA) (with activated carbon) or with pressure vacuum swing adsorption (PVSA) (with 3A zeolite). The feed was 10 mol% IPA and target purity was 99.9999 mole%. Optimized distillation/adsorption hybrid schemes were compared to optimized azeotropic distillation. On the basis of total yearly costs, distillation-PVSA was found to be the most economical scheme followed by azeotropic distillation and then distillation-TSA.
Text of a lecture given by the chairman and chief executive of Esso, in which he discussed the key challenges, choices and uncertainties which face the world with regard to energy - the main one being conservation in the form of consuming less energy for a given amount of economic output. Reference was made to coal, nuclear power, gas, oil, synthetics and renewable energy supplies. A discussion followed the lecture.-B.Walls
This table contains data on the energy trade, supply and consumption of coal, oil, gas, electricity, heat, combustible renewables and waste, expressed in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe).
The total site approach using a "Total Site Profile (TSP) analysis” (based on pinch technology) was applied to a large scale steel plant. And it was confirmed, despite the very high efficiency of the individual process systems of the plant, that there would be a huge energy saving potential by adopting this approach. It became apparent that the available pinch technology tools and techniques lend themselves very well to the analysis of a steel plant. The heat (thermal energy) under 300 °C has previously not been well utilized in steel plants. But TSP analysis was able to identify the distribution and the quantity of such heat, from which energy saving plans could be developed.
Petroleum oil refineries account for almost 8% of the total CO2 emissions from industry in the European Union (EU). In this paper, the European petroleum refining industry is investigated and the prospects for future CO2 abatement in relation to associated infrastructure are assessed. A more efficient use of the adjacent infrastructure, e.g., district heating networks, natural gas grids, neighbouring industries, and CO2 transport and storage systems, could provide opportunities for additional CO2 emissions reduction. It is shown that access to infrastructures that can facilitate CO2 abatement varies significantly across countries and between individual refineries. The assessment shows that short-term mitigation options, i.e., fuel substitution and energy efficiency measures, could reduce CO2 emissions by 9–40 MtCO2/year (6–26% of the total refinery emissions). It is further shown that carbon capture and storage offers the greatest potential for more significant emission reductions in the longer term. However, the potential for CO2 capture varies significantly depending on the choice of technology, CO2 source, and scope of implementation (5–80% of the total refinery emissions).
Energy use and carbon dioxide emissions for the Mexican iron and steel industry are analyzed from 1970 to 1996. To assess the trends in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions, we used a decomposition analysis based on physical indicators to decompose the intra-sectoral structural changes and efficiency improvements. We used a structure/efficiency analysis for international comparisons, considering industrial structure and the best available technology. This study shows that steel production growth drove up primary energy use by 211% between 1970 and 1996, while structural changes (production and process mix) decreased primary energy use by 12% and energy efficiency changes drove down energy use by 51%. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions would have increased by 9% if the primary fuel mix had remained constant at 1970 levels.
As a result of soaring energy demand from a staggering pace of economic expansion and the related growth of energy-intensive industry, China overtook the United States to become the world's largest contributor to CO2 emissions in 2007. At the same time, China has taken serious actions to reduce its energy and carbon intensity by setting both a short-term energy intensity reduction goal for 2006 to 2010 as well as a long-term carbon intensity reduction goal for 2020. This study presents a China Energy Outlook through 2050 that assesses the role of energy efficiency policies in transitioning China to a lower emission trajectory and meeting its intensity reduction goals. Over the past few years, LBNL has established and significantly enhanced its China End-Use Energy Model which is based on the diffusion of end-use technologies and other physical drivers of energy demand. This model presents an important new approach for helping understand China's complex and dynamic drivers of energy consumption and implications of energy efficiency policies through scenario analysis. A baseline ("Continued Improvement Scenario") and an alternative energy efficiency scenario ("Accelerated Improvement Scenario") have been developed to assess the impact of actions already taken by the Chinese government as well as planned and potential actions, and to evaluate the potential for China to control energy demand growth and mitigate emissions. In addition, this analysis also evaluated China's long-term domestic energy supply in order to gauge the potential challenge China may face in meeting long-term demand for energy.
This study analyzes current energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission trends in China's cement industry as the basis for modeling different levels of cement production and rates of efficiency improvement and carbon reduction in 2011–2030. Three cement output projections are developed based on analyses of historical production and physical and macroeconomic drivers. For each of these three production projections, energy savings and CO2 emission reduction potentials are estimated in a best practice scenario and two continuous improvement scenarios relative to a frozen scenario. The results reveal the potential for cumulative final energy savings of 27.1 to 37.5 exajoules and energy-related direct emission reductions of 3.2 to 4.4 gigatonnes in 2011–2030 under the best practice scenarios. The continuous improvement scenarios produce cumulative final energy savings of 6.0 to 18.9 exajoules and reduce CO2 emissions by 1.0 to 2.4 gigatonnes. This analysis highlights that increasing energy efficiency is the most important policy measure for reducing the cement industry's energy and emissions intensity, given the current state of the industry and the unlikelihood of significant carbon capture and storage before 2030. In addition, policies to reduce total cement production offer the most direct way of reducing total energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
â–º We estimated the marginal abatement costs of CO2 emissions of the Brazilian oil refining sector, for existing and for new refineries. â–º The cost of changing the processing scheme of new plants reaches US$100/tCO2 at 15% p.a. discount rate. â–º At 8% p.a. discount rate the abatement cost is higher than US$50/tCO2. â–º Thermal energy management, the most promising alternative, has an abatement cost equals US$20/tCO2 at 8% p.a. discount rate. â–º Private investors perceive thermal energy management at US$80/tCO2.
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±9.6EJ (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.
The processes of iron and steel making are energy intensive and consume large quantities of electricity and fossil fuels. In order to meet future climate targets and energy prices, the iron and steel industry has to improve its energy and resource efficiency. For the iron and steel industry to utilize its energy resources more efficiently and at the same time reduce its CO2 emissions a number of options are available. In this paper, opportunities for both integrated and scrap-based steel plants are presented and some of the options are electricity production, fuel conversion, methane reforming of coke oven gas and partnership in industrial symbiosis. The options are evaluated from a system perspective and more specific measures are reported for two Swedish case companies: SSAB Strip Products and Sandvik AB. The survey shows that both case companies have great potentials to reduce their CO2 emissions.
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.
Calcium looping is a CO2 capture scheme using solid CaO-based sorbents to remove CO2 from flue gases, e.g., from a power plant, producing a concentrated stream of CO2 (∼95%) suitable for storage. The scheme exploits the reversible gas–solid reaction between CO2 and CaO(s) to form CaCO3(s). Calcium looping has a number of advantages compared to closer-to-market capture schemes, including: the use of circulating fluidised bed reactors—a mature technology at large scale; sorbent derived from cheap, abundant and environmentally benign limestone and dolomite precursors; and the relatively small efficiency penalty that it imposes on the power/industrial process (i.e., estimated at 6–8 percentage points, compared to 9.5–12.5 from amine-based post-combustion capture). A further advantage is the synergy with cement manufacture, which potentially allows for decarbonisation of both cement manufacture and power production. In addition, a number of advanced applications offer the potential for significant cost reductions in the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels coupled with CO2 capture. The range of applications of calcium looping are discussed here, including the progress made towards demonstrating this technology as a viable post-combustion capture technology using small-pilot scale rigs, and the early progress towards a 2MW scale demonstrator.
Existing refinery distillation systems are highly energy-intensive, and have complex column configurations that interact strongly with the associated heat exchanger network. An optimization approach is developed for existing refinery distillation processes. The optimization framework includes shortcut models developed for the simulation of the existing distillation column, and a retrofit shortcut model for the heat exchanger network. The existing distillation process is optimized by changing key operating parameters, while simultaneously accounting for hydraulic limitations and the design and the performance of the existing heat exchanger network. A case study shows that a reduction in energy consumption and operating costs of over 25% can be achieved.
Shale gas is viewed by many as a global energy game-changer. However, serious concerns exist that shale gas generates more greenhouse gas emissions than does coal. In this work the related published data are reviewed and a reassessment is made. It is shown that the greenhouse gas effect of shale gas is less than that of coal over long term if the higher power generation efficiency of shale gas is taken into account. In short term, the greenhouse gas effect of shale gas can be lowered to the level of that of coal if methane emissions are kept low using existing technologies. Further reducing the greenhouse gas effect of shale gas by storing CO2 in depleted shale gas reservoirs is also discussed, with the conclusion that more CO2 than the equivalent CO2 emitted by the extracted shale gas could be stored in the reservoirs at significantly reduced cost.
Experience with implementation of CO ² taxes spans almost a decade in the Nordic countries, and time is ripe for an evaluation of their performance. In contrast to ex-ante forecasts, empirical research can show the extent to which such taxes deliver on the assumptions of economic theory. A survey of the existing literature shows that there are currently 20 ex-post studies of the full or partial effects of CO ² taxes. Evaluations are complicated by frequent changes in tax rates, widespread exemptions and the ‘too many variables’ problem. Attempts have been made to deal with these problems by using a variety of approaches and research techniques, some more advanced than others. On balance the studies appear to show that emissions have been curbed when compared to businessas-usual forecasts, while absolute CO ² reduction remains the exception. Among the Nordic countries, Denmark's scheme, which combines taxes with subsidies for energy efficiency, seems to have attained the most marked results, although the achieved reductions also reflect the higher carbon content of the Danish energy sector. The evaluations differ considerably in scope, approach and methodology. Methodological issues connected with expost evaluation are considered. An adequate evaluation of the impact of the CO ² taxes, in both environmental and economic terms, will require the establishment of comprehensive panel databases of energy consumers.
The cement sub-sector consumes approximately 12-15% of total industrial energy use. Therefore, a state of art review on the energy use and savings is necessary to identify energy wastage so that necessary measures could be implemented to reduce energy consumption in this sub-sector. In this paper energy use at different sections of cement industries, specific energy consumption, types of energy use, details of cement manufacturing processes, various energy savings measures were reviewed and presented. Various energy savings measures were critically analyzed considering amount of energy that can be saved along with the implementation cost. Amount of CO(2) reduction has been presented along with the payback period for different energy savings measures as well.
This study complied a comprehensive literature on the cement industries in terms of Thesis (MS and PhD), peer reviewed journals papers, conference proceedings, books, reports, websites. It has been observed that China producing major share of global cement production. Coal contribute major share of fuel used in cement industries. However, along with conventional fuels, industries are moving towards the use of alternative fuels to reduce environmental pollution. It was reported that cement industries are moving from wet process to dry process as it consume less energy compared to wet process.
Heavier crude oil, tighter environmental regulations and increased heavy-end upgrading in the petroleum industry are leading to the increased demand for hydrogen in oil refineries. Hence, hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes now play increasingly important roles in modern refineries. Refinery hydrogen networks are becoming more and more complicated as well. Therefore, optimisation of overall hydrogen networks is required to improve the hydrogen utilisation in oil refineries. Previous work over hydrogen management has developed methodologies for H2 network optimisation, with a very simplistic assumption that all H2 rich streams consist of H2 and CH4 only, which leads to a serious doubt of solution’s feasibility. To overcome the drawbacks in previous work, an improved modelling and optimisation approach has been developed. Light hydrocarbon production and integrated flash calculation are incorporated into a hydrogen consumer model. An optimisation framework is developed to solve the resulting NLP problem. A case study is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed approach.Highlights► Improved detailed multi-component hydrogen consumer model. ► Integrated flash calculation using constant K-values. ► Rigorous multi-component hydrogen network modelling. ► Systematic NLP optimisation methodology for refinery hydrogen network design.
Currently the separation of olefins (ethylene, propylene) from (ethane, propane) on a commercial scale is performed almost exclusively by cryogenic distillation in petrochemical industries. Since this technology is highly energy intensive, there is a strong economic incentive to explore alternative separation technologies with lower energy consumption. In this work, using the separation of ethylene and ethane as a representative case, a mathematical programming approach is proposed to optimize and retrofit a hybrid separation system consisting of a distillation column and a parallel membrane separation unit. A two-stage approach is used. First, a shortcut model is introduced that allows determining whether the hybrid system could be of interest and the order of magnitude of the energy savings that can be expected. Second, a superstructure optimization approach is proposed that uses rigorous models for both the column and the membrane using a process simulator and state of the art MINLP solvers. The results presented in the case study show that significant savings in total costs and energy (up to 30%) can be obtained with the hybrid system.
Petroleum refineries fulfil their energy (process heat) requirement by direct fuel firing. In this regard, a heat exchanger network (HEN) is widely used to recover thermal energy that may be otherwise wasted. The HEN can significantly reduce the overall energy consumption in industrial processes. In many industrial processes such as oil refineries, crude oil needs to be heated to a required temperature. Here a study of a HEN problem of a crude oil distillation unit of an African Oil Refining Company (AORC) is carried out. In this unit the crude is required to enter the distillation column at 328 °C, while the crude inlet temperature at the furnace is only 220 °C. Therefore, a heater must supply heat to raise the temperature by a third of the target temperature. In this work pinch technology is used in the existing HEN in order to obtain a desirable energy saving and to identify the required additional modification. With the addition of only one heat exchanger and re-construction of the HEN, significant utility savings are achieved. Copyright © 2007 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In this study, 16 cement plants with New Suspension Preheater and pre-calciner (NSP) kiln were surveyed. Plant energy use was compared to both domestic (Chinese) and international best practice using the Benchmarking and Energy Saving Tool for Cement (BEST-Cement). This benchmarking exercise indicated an average technical potential primary energy savings of 12% would be possible if the surveyed plants operated at domestic best practice levels in terms of energy use per ton of cement produced. Average technical potential primary energy savings of 23% would be realized if the plants operated at international best practice levels. Then, using the bottom-up Electricity Conservation Supply Curve (ECSC) model, the cost-effective electricity efficiency potential for the 16 studied cement plants in 2008 is estimated to be 373 gigawatt-hours (GWh), and total technical electricity-saving potential is 915 GWh, which accounts for 16 and 40% of total electricity use in the studied plants in 2008, respectively. The Fuel Conservation Supply Curve (FCSC) model shows the total technical fuel efficiency potential equal to 7949 terajoules (TJ), accounting for 8% of total fuel used in the studied cement plants in 2008. All the fuel efficiency potential is shown to be cost effective.