Energy-intensive Enterprises Research Articles

Can Green Technology Innovation Reduce the Operational Risks of Energy-Intensive Enterprises?

Many countries have adopted carbon regulatory policies in pursuit of carbon neutrality, which pose great transition risks for energy-intensive sectors. Using the panel data of 186 Chinese listed enterprises in the energy-intensive sector from 2007 to 2019, this study investigates the impact of green technology innovation on corporate operation risks. Empirical evidence shows that energy-intensive enterprises can effectively reduce their operational risks by participating in green technology innovation activities. This study also proves the mechanism of obtaining the support of public policies and enhancing investor confidence in the capital market, while the mechanism of improving recognition in the consumer market is insignificant. Climate policy uncertainty weakens the stabilizing effect of green technology innovation on operational risks. In addition, green technology innovation has a weak stabilizing effect on the operational risks of state-owned enterprises, while government subsidy can strengthen the stabilizing effect. Finally, the stabilizing effect of green technology innovation on operational risks varies by region, period, scale and ownership. This study and its findings provide theoretical insights for corporate risk management in energy-intensive industries and theoretical analysis for the realization mechanism of the market value of corporate green behavior.

Energy Efficiency Assessment of Industrial Users Based on Improved TOPSIS Grey Correlation Analysis

In order to improve the energy efficiency of industrial users and evaluate the energy efficiency level before optimizing the energy efficiency of enterprises, an energy efficiency evaluation method based on improved TOPSIS grey relational analysis was proposed to find the weak links in energy use. Firstly, three indexes of energy stability, energy consumption per unit output and carbon emission per unit output are selected to construct the energy efficiency index system. Secondly, the index weights are calculated by entropy weight method, and the energy efficiency levels of industrial users are classified, which can be used by the power grid to implement differentiated electricity prices for high-energy consumption enterprises. Last example city 10 typical energy-intensive enterprise users used improved TOPSIS grey correlation analysis method for evaluation of energy efficiency, energy consumption per unit output value is obtained by analysis of the index weight is the largest, the better the performance of the index, the higher the comprehensive evaluation results of energy efficiency, and finally the method compared with other evaluation methods to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method in this paper.

Corporate Sustainable Growth, Carbon Performance, and Voluntary Carbon Information Disclosure: New Panel Data Evidence for Chinese Listed Companies

At present, to comply with carbon reduction commitments, China has only required energy-intensive enterprises to report their carbon information to regulators, aside from mandatory public disclosures. Although some enterprises have been disclosing their own carbon information voluntarily by means of corporate reports in order to shape their green image, their carbon information disclosures (CID) still need to be improved. This study attempts to systematically investigate links between corporate growth, carbon emission (CEP) or reduction performance (CRP) in two forms (intensity and amount), and CID in industries with different carbon intensities on the basis of stakeholder theory as well as legitimacy theory. This study took Chinese companies listed on the main board market from 2009 to 2021 as samples. The Arellano–Bover/Blundell–Bond dynamic panel data model was used for regression analysis. Results showed that sustainable growth enhanced the promotion effect of CEP (both in terms of intensity and amount) on CID in carbon-intensive industries, while sustainable growth enhanced the inhibition effect of CEP measured in terms of amount, rather than intensity, on CID in low-carbon industries. This revealed that CEP, not CRP, had a significant influence on CID, and uncovered the influence mechanism between carbon performance and CID from the perspective of sustainable enterprise growth. The carbon information disclosure of high-carbon industries is closely and positively related to carbon performance, indicating that the interaction between high-carbon industries and capital markets will be more affected by the mitigation of carbon information asymmetry. Further, circulating A-shares are moderators for better CID in both carbon-intensive industries and low-carbon industries, which fits the expectation of stakeholder theory as well as legitimacy theory. Additionally, measurement habits or preference for carbon emissions performance (in the form of amount or intensity) in different industries should be brought to the forefront to enhance investors’ confidence in CID. This study has certain guiding value for the formulation of CID standards and contributes to the process of mandatory CID.

Impact of Low-carbon City Construction on Financing, Investment, and Total Factor Productivity of Energy-intensive Enterprises

Faced with the global climate change, as a major greenhouse gas emitter, China launched a pilot policy on low-carbon city construction since 2010. Few studies have discussed how climate policies affect the investment and financing behavior of energy-intensive enterprises. Based on the micro data of A-share listed enterprises in China’s energy-intensive industries, this study aims to assess the productivity effect of low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy and investigates the mechanism of financing and investment using the difference-in-difference method. Empirical results provide evidence that the LCCP policy has significantly improved the total factor productivity of energy-intensive enterprises. In terms of the mechanisms, the LCCP policy has increased the supply of bank credit to enterprises and encouraged their long-term investment in fixed assets and R&D activities. The productivity effect of the LCCP policy is greater for state-owned enterprises and enterprises with political connection. Urban human capital, industrial agglomeration, and resource endowment contribute to the productivity effect of LCCP policy for enterprises in the energy-intensive industries. The findings show that the LCCP is an effective comprehensive policy to promote the high-quality development of energy-intensive industries, and the findings also provide enlightenment for enacting better climate transition policies.

Decision-making support system for managing portfolios of energy saving projects at energy-intensive enterprises

Purpose. Development of a software complex based on decision-making methods for managing a portfolio of energy-saving projects at energy-intensive enterprises. Methodology. To solve the problem of managing project portfolios, Markowitz's portfolio theory of financial investments was chosen, which allows for the most profitable distribution of portfolio risk and performing income assessment using optimization methods. In combination with this theory, it was determined to use the methods of finding the maximum Sharpe ratio, as well as the minimum volatility based on a data package of randomly generated portfolios. Findings. As a result of the work performed, a software system was developed, which has in its functionality the automatic download of a data package of selected shares for the specified period of time from the electronic resource, generates a random portfolio and performs its optimization by maximizing the Sharpe ratio and minimizing the volatility of the portfolio. Also, the program has the ability to display the results of optimization of the generated portfolio in the form of tables and graphs. The decision support system for managing portfolios of energy-saving projects was considered through its generalization to methods of optimizing investment portfolios, but taking into account the specifics of the subject area. The software complex was tested on a data set of share prices in energy-intensive enterprises. Graphical data and tables obtained as a result of system operation allow the program user to evaluate fully the created energy saving project portfolio. Originality. The developed software system combines right away several methods, namely: methods of optimizing an investment portfolio according to Markowitz's portfolio theory, methods of finding the maximum Sharpe ratio and methods of finding minimum volatility. This solution allows you to use the system to solve a wide range of tasks. Practical value. The completed development makes it possible to optimize conveniently the investment portfolios for various assets, which makes it possible to use the development of energy saving project portfolio management in energy-intensive enterprises. Also, the system can serve as a basis for such developments.

An integrated framework for industrial symbiosis performance evaluation in an energy-intensive industrial park in China.

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is an important tool to achieve green development for industrial parks. It is necessary to evaluate the IS performance for monitoring and managing the development of IS system. This study proposed an integrated framework to assess the IS performance based on the energy-intensive industrial park. Firstly, we established a Conceptual model of symbiotic coupling of three industries (iron and steel, thermal power, and cement). Then, the conceptual model was applied to extend the existing IS system in the energy-intensive industrial park. Finally, the IS performance of the extended IS system was evaluated. We verified this framework in Red flag cannel park (RFCP). The IS performance assessment in RFCP found that the existing IS activities produced significant multiple benefits and environmental impact reduction. For example, the existing IS activities produced 970.20 kt of low-carbon benefits, which accounted for 19% of the CO2 emissions in RFCP. However, after extending the existing symbiotic system combined with the conceptual model proposed in this study, we found that there still was a large amount of symbiotic potential (the reuse of waste heat, BF slag, gypsum) waiting to be developed in RFCP. In addition, we also found that the resilience of existing IS network in RFCP was weak and need to be further perfected. In general, in the further development and perfection of IS system in RFCP, the manager should not only focus on the development of IS activities among energy-intensive enterprises but also strive to foster more influential enterprises to enhance the anti-risk ability of IS network. The result indicates the integrated framework can provide support for the development and perfection of IS system in energy-intensive industrial parks.

Energy efficiency index of industry in the conditions of energy transition in Bulgaria

Regarding the energy transformation and the Net Zero Scenario, Bulgaria’s effort is to maintain a coherent energy policy with the EU-28, in accordance with its geographical and climatic conditions and the current state of the energy intensive “Industry” sector. The general analysis of the current situation in the country, synthesised in this paper, is completed by an analysis of the specific technical features of the operation of nearly 1700 induction motors in two highly energy intensive enterprises: a chemical factory and a food factory. The energy losses on an annual basis can be determined by using several parameters and magnitudes. Recommendations and key factors for energy efficient investments are also presented.

A novel approach for steelmaking scheduling with self-generation under real-time and demand charge tariffs

It is difficult for energy-intensive enterprises equipped with self-generation to incentivize consumers to shift load to low-demand periods through time-based pricing. This paper addresses a scheduling problem of steel plant equipped with self-generation under real-time electricity prices. Considering the possibility of centralized load shifting resulting in excessive loads for some periods, we also consider the demand charge pricing. A continuous-time mixed-integer linear programming model based on event expression and generalized disjunctive programming is proposed. As industrial scale problems cannot be solved by some commercial solvers in an acceptable time, a SPEA2 algorithm is tailored. Effective encoding based on decomposition-and-offsetting mechanism and decoding based on backward-and-rules are used to generate the initial population and scheduling scheme, respectively. Meanwhile, crossover and mutation operators incorporating conflict resolution strategies can strike a balance between exploring and exploiting to produce high-quality solutions. Numerical experiments indicate that the proposed approach has superiority in performance and efficiency.

Review of the state of air pollution by energy objects in Ukraine

Objective information about the state of air pollution is the basis for implementing measures to ensure conditions for the safe living of the population and improve the environmental pollution monitoring network. The purpose of the work is to study the impact of energy facilities (enterprises consuming different types of fuels) on atmospheric air pollution and its spatial and temporal distribution in cities and regions of Ukraine. The relevance of the work is confirmed by the fact that Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, has the highest mortality rate from diseases caused by polluted air. The article considers general approaches to the functioning of the air pollution monitoring system in Ukraine and the features of the formation of the local air pollution index. The article discusses the most common pollutants generated at energy-intensive enterprises in Ukraine, in particular benzo(a)pyrene (C20H12), sulfur dioxide (SO2), dust, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NxOy), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon disulfide (CS2), hydrogen fluoride (HF), ammonia (NH3), phenol (C6H6O) and others. Statistical information about emissions of pollutants (CO2, SO2, NO2, CO, PM10, PM2,5, PAHs, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, As) into the air from stationary sources of pollution for the period 1990-2018 was analyzed and visualized. The dynamics of chemical air pollution in different cities and regions of Ukraine are analyzed in detail. For some cities (Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv), energy-intensive enterprises and types of pollutants emitted into the air have been identified. It is shown that among the most polluted cities are Mariupol, Dnipro, Odesa, Kamianske, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Lutsk, Lysychansk, Mykolaiv, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Rubizhne, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Lysychansk, Kherson, Kremenchuk, and among the most polluting regions are Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhya, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Poltava. These regions need priority implementation of modern air pollution monitoring systems. Keywords: air pollution, chemical pollution, stationary sources, energy objects, pollution dynamics, maximum permissible concentration

The influence of oil price uncertainty on corporate debt risk: Evidence from China

The uncertainty of international oil price has significant impacts on the macroeconomy and on firm-level business activities. It may affect the corporate economic activity through several channels and transmission mechanisms. This paper investigated the relationship between oil price uncertainty and corporate debt risk using the micro panel data of non-financially listed enterprises in China from 2010 to 2018. The results showed that an increase in oil price volatility deepens corporate debt risks, and the mediating and moderating effects demonstrated that oil price volatility indirectly worsens corporate debt risks through channel variables such as debt maturity, weakened solvency, and deepening zombification degree. Further analysis of the results indicated that the impact of oil price volatility on corporate debt risk is remarkably heterogeneous among different enterprises and is more serious in enterprises with lower financing constraints, in non-state-owned enterprises, and in energy-intensive enterprises.

How does the green credit policy affect the technological innovation of enterprises? Evidence from China

Using 2008–2017 data on 1036 Chinese A-share listed companies, we investigate the impact of the green credit policy (GCP) on corporate technological innovation (TI). We argue that the promulgation of the 2012 “Green Credit Guidelines” (GCG) can be seen as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) model to more effectively approximate the effect of the GCP, we find that (i) the GCP significantly promoted TI in highly polluting and energy-intensive enterprises (HEEs) in terms of both quantity and quality. (ii) The effect of the GCP on the TI of HEEs was asymmetric, reflecting different effects on firms with different property rights and sizes. (iii) Profitability and ownership concentration (OC) enhanced the role of the GCP in promoting TI. (iv) Agency costs (ACs) weakened the role of the GCP in promoting TI. These findings have implications for designing better GCPs to promote corporate innovation.

Assessing the impact of R&D Investments, government subsidies on energy efficiency: empirical analysis from the Chinese listed firms.

China's "Made in China (2025)" strategic plan aims to increase the industrial sector's ability to innovate independently. Cleaner production and green technology will also be used to build green industrial systems. To help achieve these goals, the Chinese government has implemented research and development (R&D) preferential policies. Over the years 2010-2020, this article examines how government subsidies and R&D spending will affect China's energy-intensive enterprises' energy efficiency using the CS-ARDL approach. It also evaluates the effectiveness of economic growth, urbanization, and financial resources on energy efficiency. The outcome reveals that R&D expenditures and economic growth contribute to energy efficiency. Likewise, the findings of urbanization, financial resources, and government subsidies are inversely associated with energy efficiency. Moreover, the panel causality test results show the bi-directional association between urbanization and energy efficiency, government subsidies and energy efficiency, and economic growth and energy efficiency. Likewise, the one-way causal association from R&D expenditures to energy efficiency and from financial resources to energy efficiency. The findings suggest the imperative policies to boost the level of energy efficiency.

Explorative study on waste heat production intensity and recovery practices in the textile sector: First steps towards the creation of a decision support tool based on real data

Nowadays industrial companies are getting more and more aware of the fact that a huge amount of the energy consumed every year goes unused and lost in the form of waste heat. Despite the fact that awareness is raising, incentives are available and that waste heat recovery technologies are generally mature and market-ready, heat recovery measures are still unimplemented at industrial level, mainly due to non-technological barriers, and in particular to the lack of reliable data related to heat consumption and waste heat recovery potentials, as well as to types, costs and benefits of heat recovery practices. The aim of this work is to fill such informational gap for the textile sector, providing a knowledge base elaborated on the basis of real industrial data gathered via a massive survey, and allowing further elaborations from the authors and academics. ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic development, has in fact seized the opportunity to gather a relevant amount of data related to heat consumption, uses, potentials and recovery practices on the second deadline imposed by the Italian Legislative Decree n°102 of the July 4, 2014, which established periodic mandatory energy audits for large and energy intensive enterprises. Methodology and main results of data analysis are presented, providing a solid basis for both companies willing to identify and evaluate potential heat recovery opportunities for their processes, thus enabling knowledge transfer and practices sharing, and academics and policy makers willing to estimate recovery potentials. Consumption data for the textile sector are presented together with the quantification of main heat uses, allowing the identification of most relevant sub-sectors in terms of waste heat potential; heat recovery practices described in the energy audits are then analysed and characterized from a technical and economic point of view.

Energy saving at energy-intensive enterprises

Purpose. Investigate the methods of decision-making in the project portfolio management, as well as perform their software implementation as part of the system of the portfolio management optimization of energy saving projects at energy-intensive enterprises. Methodology. To achieve this goal, Markovitz's portfolio theory was chosen - the theory of financial investment, in which the methods of optimization are the most profitable distribution of the risk of the securities portfolio and income valuation. In combination with portfolio theory, methods were used to find the maximum Sharpe coefficient and minimum volatility according to randomly generated portfolios. Findings. Methods of portfolio management of energy saving projects are considered through their generalization to the methods of optimization of investment portfolios, but taking into account the specifics of the subject area. A software application has been developed and tested that automatically downloads data for certain stocks for a certain period from an electronic resource, generates random portfolios and optimizes them by maximizing the Sharpe ratio and minimizing portfolio volatility. Composing a portfolio of investments from four stocks traded on the stock exchange, the return and risk of the portfolio with different types of optimization were calculated. The application implements graphical display of portfolio optimization results in the form of tables and graphs. The first graph shows the changes in each stock over a given period of time. The following is a graph of daily profitability instead of actual prices, where you can see the volatility of shares. The simulated portfolio optimization based on the effective limit is graphically presented - the line along which the points will give the least risk to the target return and the calculated optimization of the portfolio based on the effective limit. The graphs and tables built by the program allow the user to better assess the created portfolio of the energy saving project. Originality. The approach proposed in this paper is a combination of methods for optimizing the investment portfolio according to Markovitz's portfolio theory and methods for finding the maximum Sharpe coefficient and minimum volatility in one software application to solve a wide range of problems. Practical value. The completed development has significant practical value, as it allows you to optimize quickly the financial portfolio for any assets, which allows, among other things, to use the system to optimize the management of portfolios of energy saving projects in energy-intensive enterprises. In addition, it can be the basis or model for a similar development.

The Impact of the "Belt and Road" Initiative on Accounting Conservatism of Energy-Intensive Enterprises under the Low-Carbon Background.

In recent years, the “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) has paid more and more attention to practicing the concept of green development. The concept of green development in the BRI will help promote the active response to climate change in the regions along the route and maintain global ecological security and is of great significance to the green transformation and development of energy-intensive enterprises. Using company-level data from China over the 2011–2020 period, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the BRI on energy-intensive enterprise accounting conservatism. We find that BRI has decreased the energy-intensive enterprise accounting conservatism, and this result continues to hold after a series of robustness tests. We also examine the effect of the RBI on accounting conservatism across company types and ages and find that the BRI is beneficial to energy-intensive state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and young companies. Furthermore, analysis reveals that BRI changes the accounting conservatism of energy-intensive enterprises mainly through debt financing, tax burden, and legal environment channels.

A Methodology for the Identification and Characterization of Low-Temperature Waste Heat Sources and Sinks in Industrial Processes: Application in the Italian Dairy Sector

Waste heat recovery is considered as one of the most promising options to improve the efficiency and sustainability of industrial processes. Even though industrial waste heat is abundantly available and its utilization is not a new concept, the implementation rate of waste-heat recovery interventions in industrial facilities is still low, due to several real or perceived barriers. Foremost challenges are represented by technical, economic, financial and regulatory factors. An additional prominent barrier lies in the lack or incompleteness of information concerning the material and energy flows within the factories, and the types and characteristics of waste heat sources and possible sinks for their internal or external reuse. With the aim to overcome some of the information barriers and increase the willingness of companies to approach waste heat recovery and reuse, a methodology to map waste heat sources and sinks in industrial processes is proposed in this study. The approach here presented combines information from the most relevant publications on the subject and data gathered from the analysis of energy audits carried out by large and energy-intensive enterprises. In order to demonstrate its feasibility, the methodology was applied to the Italian dairy sector, because of its large energy consumption and its enormous potential for the utilization of low-temperature waste heat sources.

Going green: Insight from asymmetric risk spillover between investor attention and pro-environmental investment

This article develops multi-quantile VaR Granger causality to investigate the extreme risk spillover of investor attention to energy-intensive and green enterprises in China. We construct investor attention indices from the Baidu index by crawling each stock's code and abbreviation. Our findings are outlined as follows. First, investor attention could effectively predict enterprise performance under extreme conditions, and the extreme comovement is prone to occur in the same direction. Second, investor attention is more likely to exert adverse effects on energy-intensive enterprises. Finally, the occurrence of environmental events would significantly affect individual attention and eventually reinforce pro-environmental investment.

Prospects for the development of traditional and unconventional energy in the Chechen Republic

THE PURPOSE. To carry out an analysis of increasing the efficiency of energy development in the Chechen Republic. On the basis of the current structure of the power supply system of the Chechen Republic, provide indicators of the deficit of consumed electric power, as well as the generation of electricity in the republic. Consider the state of renewable energy sources in the republic and the prospects for the development of energy related to their implementation. METHODS. The analysis of the development of traditional energy, which is given close attention, is carried out, based on the experience of other subjects of Russia and foreign countries. The question of the application of the methodology for the effective development of regional energy is considered.RESULTS. A direction for the development of the energy sector of the Chechen Republic is proposed, which should inevitably be associated with thermal power plants using the most modern and efficient cycle today - steam-gas plants (CCGT), which is based on a gas turbine unit running on natural gas, being the only power plant that in the condensing mode of operation, it can supply electricity with an efficiency of more than 58%. The analysis of industrial power consumption of the largest operating and promising energy-intensive enterprises and facilities of the republic is carried out. CONCLUSION. The introduction of gas turbine plants in the centers of thermal and electrical loads helps to increase the economic efficiency of power plants. It is proposed to carry out fundamental and applied research in the field of renewable energy.

Does green credit affect the green innovation performance of high-polluting and energy-intensive enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment.

Taking the green credit policy in 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper applies the methods of propensity score matching and Difference-in-Difference (PSM-DID) to investigate the relationship between green credit policy and enterprises' green technology innovation performance based on Chinese industrial enterprises database and green patent database. The results show that the implementation of "green credit guidelines" policy has significantly improved the green innovation performance of high-polluting and high-energy consuming enterprises, which indicates that the incentive effect of green credit policy on enterprises exceeds the constraint effect and leads to "Porter effect." Moreover, the green credit policy has significantly increased the number of non-invention patents rather than invention patents. In addition, the green credit policy has a more significant effect on the green innovation performance of high-polluting and energy-intensive enterprises that are state-owned and have weak market power. Mechanism test shows that green credit policy can change the credit financing constraints and R&D investment allocation to affect the green innovation performance of high-polluting and energy-intensive enterprises.

Examining Effect of Green Transformational Leadership and Environmental Regulation through Emission Reduction Policy on Energy-Intensive Industry’s Employee Turnover Intention in China

This study explored a theoretical model of factors affecting employee turnover intentions in the energy-intensive industry from the perspective of environmental regulation through emission reduction policy. Moreover, we examined whether green transformational leadership has a negative effect on the perception of turnover risk of energy-intensive corporate employees and their turnover intentions; we collected data on 531 employees in the energy-intensive industries in China. Data analysis was conducted using exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, stepwise regression model analysis, and a structural equation model to test the research hypothesis. The results revealed that environmental regulation through emission reduction policy has a significant impact on employee perception of turnover risk and turnover intention in energy-intensive industries in China. The perception of turnover risk has a greater effect on the turnover intention among employees than the emission reduction policy. Moreover, we found that the perceived risk of turnover has a mediating effect in the relationship between environmental regulation through carbon emission reduction policy and turnover intention. However, green transformational leadership has an inhibiting effect on the perception of turnover risk and turnover intention among employees. This research has crucial theoretical significance for the transformation of energy-intensive enterprises and promoting the sustainable development of energy-intensive enterprises in China.