Wina Graus

Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Fruit and Vegetable Processing Industry. An ENERGY STAR Guide for Energy and Plant Managers

The U.S. fruit and vegetable processing industry--defined in this Energy Guide as facilities engaged in the canning, freezing, and drying or dehydrating of fruits and vegetables--consumes over

Tax and Fiscal Policies for Promotion of Industrial Energy Efficiency: A Survey of International Experience

800 million worth of purchased fuels and electricity per year. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There are a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. fruit and vegetable processing industry to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, facility, and organizational levels. A discussion of the trends, structure, and energy consumption characteristics of the U.S. fruit and vegetable processing industry is provided along with a description of the major process technologies used within the industry. Next, a wide variety of energy efficiency measures applicable to fruit and vegetable processing plants are described. Many measure descriptions include expected savings in energy and energy-related costs, based on case study data from real-world applications in fruit and vegetable processing facilities and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. Given the importance of water in fruit and vegetable processing, a summary of basic, proven measures for improving plant-level water efficiency are also provided. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. fruit and vegetable processing industry reduce energy and water consumption in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of all measures--as well as on their applicability to different production practices--is needed to assess their cost effectiveness at individual plants.

Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Glass Industry. An ENERGY STAR Guide for Energy and Plant Managers

The Energy Foundations China Sustainable Energy Program (CSEP) has undertaken a major project investigating fiscal and tax policy options for stimulating energy efficiency and renewable energy development in China. This report, which is part of the sectoral sub-project studies on energy efficiency in industry, surveys international experience with tax and fiscal policies directed toward increasing investments in energy efficiency in the industrial sector. The report begins with an overview of tax and fiscal policies, including descriptions and evaluations of programs that use energy or energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) taxes, pollution levies, public benefit charges, grants or subsidies, subsidized audits, loans, tax relief for specific technologies, and tax relief as part of an energy or greenhouse gas (GHG) emission tax or agreement scheme. Following the discussion of these individual policies, the report reviews experience with integrated programs found in two countries as well as with GHG emissions trading programs. The report concludes with a discussion of the best practices related to international experience with tax and fiscal policies to encourage investment in energy efficiency in industry.

The promise of carbon capture and storage: evaluating the capture-readiness of new EU fossil fuel power plants

The U.S. glass industry is comprised of four primary industry segments--flat glass, container glass, specialty glass, and fiberglass--which together consume

Can a dysprosium shortage threaten green energy technologies

1.6 billion in energy annually. On average, energy costs in the U.S. glass industry account for around 14percent of total glass production costs. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There is a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. glass industry to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, system, and organizational levels. A discussion of the trends, structure, and energy consumption characteristics of the U.S. glass industry is provided along with a description of the major process steps in glass manufacturing. Expected savings in energy and energy-related costs are given for many energy efficiency measures, based on case study data from real-world applications in glass production facilities and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. glass industry reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of the measures--as well on as their applicability to different production practices--is needed to assess potential implementation of selected technologies at individual plants.

Trend in efficiency and capacity of fossil power generation in the EU

To what degree are recently built and planned power plants in the EU ‘capture-ready’ for carbon capture and storage (CCS)? Survey results show that most recently built fossil fuel power plants have not been designed as capture-ready. For 20 planned coal-fired plants, 13 were said to be capture-ready (65%). For 31 planned gas-fired power plants, only 2 were indicated to be capture-ready (6%). Recently built or planned power plants are expected to cover a large share of fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and thereby have a large impact on the possibility to implement CCS after 2020. It is estimated that around 15–30% of fossil fuel capacity by 2030 can be capture-ready or have CO2 capture implemented from the start. If CCS is implemented at these plants, 14–28% of baseline CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power generation in 2030 could be mitigated, equivalent to 220–410 MtCO2. A key reason indicated by utilities for building a capture-ready plant is (expected) national or EU policies. In addition, financial incentives and expected high CO2 prices are important. The implementation of a long-term regulatory framework for CCS with clear definitions of ‘capture- readiness’ and policy requirements will be important challenges.