Jacco Farla

Energy efficiency developments in the pulp and paper industry: A cross-country comparison using physical production data

Abstract A method is presented for cross-country, cross-time comparison of energy efficiency developments in the manufacturing industry. The method is based on the use of physical production data as a measure of activity growth for the manufacturing industry. The methodology was applied to the pulp and paper industry of eight countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). With the methodology it is possible to follow energy efficiency developments, separately, for fuel and electricity consumption. Between 1973 and 1991, the production growth in the pulp and paper industry in the analysed countries would have resulted in an average increase in the primary energy consumption by 42%. Changes in the product mix had hardly any effect on the primary energy consumption. Because of energy efficiency improvements, the growth of primary energy consumption was limited to only 16%. The average annual efficiency improvement amounted to 1.6%. The methodology presented enables physical energy efficiency comparisons to be made between countries without the need for data at the process level.

Carbon dioxide recovery from industrial processes

The ongoing human-induced emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) threatens to change the earths climate. One possible way of decreasing CO2 emissions is to apply CO2 removal, which involves recovering of carbon dioxide from energy conversion processes and storing it outside the atmosphere. Since the 1980s, the possibilities for recovering CO2 from thermal power plants received increasing attention.In this study possible techniques of recovering CO2 from large-scale industrial processes are assessed.In some industrial processes, e.g. ammonia production, CO2 is recovered from the process streams to prevent it from interfering with the production process. The CO2 thus recovered can easily be dehydrated and compressed, at low cost. In the iron and steel industry, carbon dioxide can be recovered from blast furnace gas. In the petrochemical industry CO2 can be recovered from flue gases, using low-temperature heat for the separation process.Carbon dioxide can be recovered from large-scale industrial processes and in some cases the cost of recovery is significantly less than CO2 recovery from thermal power plants. Therefore this option should be studied further and should be considered if carbon dioxide removal is introduced on a wide scale.

The quality of energy intensity indicators for international comparison in the iron and steel industry

Abstract International comparison of energy intensity is receiving increased scientific and political attention. International comparisons may help in identifying the potentials for energy intensity reduction. Knowledge of these reduction potentials can be used as the basis of national policies to reduce energy intensity, and also for designing international actions to curb the threats of climate change. Although we showed in a previous paper that indicators based on physical production data are well suited for international comparison of energy intensity, many potential problems exist regarding the availability and quality of energy and production data needed for such indicators. We studied these data problems for physical energy intensity indicators for the iron and steel industry. We started by comparing the energy data from four international data sources. It turned out that quite some mistakes are made in the reported energy data, which makes reliable international comparison of countries difficult. The available production data, and the methodology of using physical production indicators, turned out to be less problematic. We found that the accuracy of physical energy intensity indicators is, to a large extent, determined by the accuracy of the energy consumption data used. We recommend that energy analysts be careful in using energy data for international comparisons. We also recommend that national and international statistical organizations put more effort in assuring the quality of the energy consumption data in their publications.

The use of physical indicators for the monitoring of energy intensity developments in the Netherlands, 1980–1995

Decreasing the energy intensity of processes and activities is an important means by which to reduce energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the near future. Monitoring of the developments in energy intensity is necessary in order to check whether policies to decrease energy intensity have the desired effect. Value-based indicators have been used in many such monitoring studies. It has been suggested only recently that physical indicators might lead to a better understanding of energy intensity developments. In this paper we aim at developing meaningful physical energy intensity indicators for all sectors of the Dutch economy and to study the sectoral energy intensity developments for the period 1980–1995 by means of these indicators. It turned out to be possible to develop aggregate activity indicators on a physical basis for most of the subsectors. Physical and value-based energy intensity indicators yielded substantial differences in the energy intensity developments calculated. On average, the annual decrease in energy intensity for the period 1980–1995 was 1.4%, calculated on the basis of physical energy intensity indicators, and 1.6% on the basis of economic indicators. The methodology based on physical indicators turned out to be suitable for monitoring energy intensity developments. However, more data are required and thorough analysis of the energy consumption per subsector is necessary to improve this type of analysis based on physical activity indicators.

Energy efficiency and structural change in the Netherlands, 1980–1990

Abstract A monitoring method was developed with which changes in the energy consumption of a country can be analyzed. A special feature of this method is that we used physical instead of economic indicators of activity wherever possible. The method distinguishes between the influences of improved energy efficiency and structural changes. With this method, the energy consumption in the Netherlands was studied for the period 1980–1990. The energy-to-GDP ratio decreased by 2.1% annually between 1980 and 1985 and by 0.3% between 1985 and 1990. A large part of this decrease can be attributed to the decreasing specific energy consumption in the subsectors.

Energy Efficiency and Structural Change in the Netherlands, 1980–1995

Summary International agreement has been reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. One important way of decoupling CO2 emissions from economic growth is by introducing technical measures to improve energy efficiency. In this article, we assess the influence of developments in energy efficiency and economic structure on the total primary energy consumption in the Netherlands over the period 1980– 1995. We find a distinct decoupling of the economic growth and energy consumption of 1.5% per year in the 15-year analysis period. We measure (technical) changes in energy efficiency by changes in the energy consumption per physical unit of production or activity. The aggregate rate of (technical) energy-efficiency improvement was 1.4% per year over the period 1980–1995. The use of physical production indicators makes it possible to measure energy-efficiency developments without detailed surveys at a very low level of aggregation. When we look at economic structural changes over this period, we find that (i) no substantial shift took place at the level of the economic sectors that we distinguish; (ii) the most energy intensive subsectors grew much faster than the total economy; and (iii) at the subsector level, on average, a sizable decoupling of physical production and value added occurred. We conclude that structural changes, that is, changes in the composition of the economy, did not lead to a net decrease in the energy intensity of the Netherlands over the period 1980–1995.

Towards an integrated framework for analysing sustainable innovation policy

An integrated framework for the analysis of sustainable innovation policy was developed, based on a combination of the transition management (TM) framework, the strategic niche management approach, and policy recommendations, resulting from technological innovation system (TIS) studies. In the framework, the multi-level view from TM has been integrated with the functions approach from the TIS literature. The integrated policy framework shows that specific policy goals and measures can be found at the specific points of intervention related to (the interfaces between) landscape, regime, TIS and niches. The integrated framework suggests that stimulation of a TIS only makes sense when this action is well aligned with landscape and regime developments. The framework should be used in empirical studies for further testing and refinement.