Abstract
A key challenge in prevention of global warming is how to increase energy efficiency, to be able to deal with increased fossil CO2 emissions from rising energy usage. Increasing energy efficiency will decrease energy usage and is in a key role in emission mitigation. The focus is the pulp and paper industry, which is energy-intensive. Development of industrial energy efficiency has been studied before but the role of industrial transformation is still mostly unknown. The knowledge must be improved, to be able to predict future developments in the most effective way. In this research, impact of various production unit closures and start-ups on energy efficiency of the Finnish pulp and paper industry were studied utilizing statistical analysis. Results indicate that about 20% of the Finnish pulp and paper industry energy efficiency improvement between 2011 and 2017 is caused by the major structural changes. The rest, 80% of the progress, was mainly due to improved technology and more optimal operational modes. Additional findings suggest that modern mill start-ups have a significantly greater potential to reduce energy consumption than old mill closures.
Highlights
World energy usage increases as a result from global population growth and increasing level of wellbeing [1]
This study indicates that modern mills have a high potential to reduce energy consumption of pulp and paper industry
Finnish pulp and paper industry has gone through a large structural change that has manifested itself as several unit closures and a few new unit start-ups
Summary
World energy usage increases as a result from global population growth and increasing level of wellbeing [1]. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and efforts to reduce global warming are the main issues acting as a driving force for changing our present energy usage [2]. Energy efficiency improvement has an important role in the cost-effective energy saving and in the sustainable development [3]. Energy efficiency means an ability to produce a high number of products with as low an amount of energy as possible. In addition to environmental advantages, enhancing energy efficiency lowers operating costs and improves competitiveness [4]. Industry was the largest energy consumer in the world in 2016: its share was about
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