Energy conservation and CO2 emission reduction roadmap in China's energy-intensive industries based on a bottom-up approach

Abstract

In the process of energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) in energy-intensive industries, ECER technologies play a vital role. To formulate efficient and cost-effective technology promotion roadmap, a unified framework is needed to systematically compare the ECER effects and costs in different energy-intensive industries. Since this requires adequate understanding of the technical system in each industry and a large quantity of technical and economic parameters, studies so far have not worked on it. By adopting conservation supply curve method, this article systematically assessed the performance of 141 technologies from six energy-intensive industries in China during 2015–2030. The results revealed that: (1) on the level of all energy-intensive industries as a whole, promoting ECER technologies would reduce 68 Mtce of energy consumption from 2015 to 2020, 123.1 Mtce by 2025, and 201.5 Mtce by 2030. More than 60% of the 141 technologies were cost-effective. The thermal power industry and the petrochemical and chemical industry should be the focus of China's future ECER work while reducing the cost of conserved energy in the non-ferrous metal industry would be a critical task; (2) On the level of each energy-intensive industry, the contribution rates of main production processes or sub-industries during different periods were evaluated, and key ECER technologies that should be emphasized on in each industry were identified; and (3) the 141 technologies were categorized into five groups according to their ECER approaches, and key ECER approaches were energy efficiency technologies, management improvement technologies, and equipment modification technologies in the long term.