New data reveals where industrial energy savings actually come from
A sweeping analysis of Swedish factories shows that 39% of energy savings stem from better management practices—not just buying new equipment. For industrial managers and policymakers, this challenges the assumption that efficiency gains require capital investment, potentially opening cheaper pathways to meet emissions targets.
Originaltitel: Quantifying the extended energy efficiency gap: - evidence from Swedish electricity-intensive industries
<p>Energy efficiency is one of the major means of reducing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions resulting from industrial use of energy. Both from a societal as well as business perspective it is of great importance to reduce industrial energy end use (EEU). The implementation of energy-efficient technologies as well as increased focus on energy management practices has been stated by previous research to be the two most important methods of improved industrial energy efficiency. To date, however, there are few (if any) studies that have analyzed the proportion of industrial energy savings that derive from implementation of new technology versus from continuous energy management practices. By analyzing substantial data from the Swedish PFE program this paper aims to quantify what previously has been referred to as the extended energy efficiency gap. Results show that about 61% of the analyzed 1254 energy efficiency measures are derived from the implementation of new technology, and the rest stems from management and operational measures. The results presented in this paper are of outmost importance for industrial energy managers and energy auditors as well as industrial associations and policy-makers in order to cost-effectively address these no-regret measures.</p>