Impact Of Energy Efficiency Measures Research Articles

The impact of energy efficiency measures on the profitability of industrial companies: A case study of the steel industry

The impact of energy efficiency measures on the profitability of industrial companies: A case study of the steel industry

Environmental and economic life cycle evaluation of potential energy efficiency measures on Latvian fish supply chain

The food industry consumes a significant amount of energy, and it is responsible for 20 to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with cold supply chains absorbing about 70 percent of the energy expended in post-agriculture food systems. Despite this, some gaps remain in the sector when looking toward identifying energy consumption hotspots and evaluating the impact of energy efficiency measures across the entire supply chain. This study implements an environmental Life Cycle Assessment and a Life Cycle Cost analysis to assess a Latvian fish cold supply chain and implement two energy efficiency measures in different stages. Specifically, a fish waste valorization scenario via anaerobic digestion processes, and a scenario implementing a photovoltaic system, are considered. Both strategies proved economically feasible and delivered environmental benefits at different levels than the defined baseline scenario. The energy production from fish waste showed the best economic evaluation performance, with an internal rate of return of 14.4 percent.

Reducing the carbon intensity of international shipping – The impact of energy efficiency measures

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set a target to reduce the carbon intensity of shipping, or CO2 emissions per transport work, by at least 40% by 2030 from 2008 levels. While short-term measures which focus on improving energy efficiency have been implemented, their impact on carbon intensity trends of international shipping over time has not been quantified. This study quantifies and attributes the contribution of various driving factors to the overall change in carbon intensity of international shipping by ship type. The carbon intensity changes of each ship type are quantitatively linked to the overall carbon intensity target of the IMO. The study results highlight that reductions in carbon intensity at the ship-type and global level have been largely a result of decreases in energy intensity from 2012 to 2018 but reductions became smaller in the later period (2015–2018), underscoring the limits to energy efficiency measures. Furthermore, this study highlights the additional insights that can be drawn on the transport mode and freight activity profiles from the joint analysis of demand and supply-side indicators, revealing not only the changes in freight activity and capacity utilization, but also the shifts in capacity miles travelled for different shipping modes.

Comparing the financial impact of housing retrofit policies on Dutch homeowners

The Renovation Wave is the latest addition to a series of European measures designed to incentivise investment in a low-carbon built environment. In terms of residential retrofits, research has focused on how structural measures can reduce costs through energy savings and improve affordability in the long term. However, it is less clear how retrofit policies can positively impact households with different income levels, energy costs and savings’ opportunities across time. EU Member States have provided substantial funding for retrofitting in the form of grants, subsidised loans and tax deductions. This paper addresses with the Netherlands as case study the question: how do different retrofit measures affect the finances and affordability of homeowners in the short and longer term? Our numerical analysis is mainly based on the WoON 2018 dataset, a household-level survey. By focusing on household finances under different financing schemes, this paper aims to place renovation measures in the context of the housing affordability literature. User costs are one of the most important capital-based indicators of long-term affordability. In contrast, cash flows deal with the exchange of money and indicate financial access to housing at a given point in time. In the Dutch context of rising house prices, it is crucial to measure the short and long-term economic impact of energy efficiency measures, as they are likely to have a lasting impact on affordability. Our results show that depending on policy, a majority of homes could be retrofitted with a cost-neutral margin, depending on energy prices and post-retrofit savings. The main barrier to retrofitting is the upfront cost, which threatens short-term affordability. Loans, either subsidised or private, offer an alternative to upfront costs but reduce cost-neutrality. On the other hand, from a user cost perspective, retrofitting lowers costs in the long run. Finally, a cluster analysis shows that middle and higher income groups would be most likely to benefit from retrofitting. This raises the question of the regressive nature and targeting of flat-rate subsidies and tax deductions.

Estimation of the impact of energy efficiency measures recommended by Colombian legislation on the performance of low- and middle-income housing buildings

The building sector consumes a significant amount of energy and produces polluting gas emissions. Therefore, many countries have adopted regulations for energy efficiency. In Colombia, Resolution 0549 of 2015 (R0549-2015) has promoted energy efficiency in buildings based on the integration of measures. However, the measures recommended for residential buildings in the absence of air conditioning may not generate the energy savings required. This study evaluates the impact of the integration of the measures recommended by R0549-2015 in two residential buildings (low-and middle-income) in the Bucaramanga metropolitan area based on energy simulations. The results show significant savings in both cases; however, middle-income buildings do not satisfy the savings requirement. The simulations show that except for natural ventilation, the recommended measures do not have a significant impact on energy consumption. For this reason, the evaluation of the measures required additional analyses of thermal comfort and virtual energy. The comfort assessment revealed that the savings measures significantly improved the indoor environment. The analysis of the thermal comfort energy reveals significant savings concerning fully air-conditioned buildings. The results of the simulation also highlight the impacts of some measures incorporated in the studied buildings, such as lamps and high-efficiency elevators, orientation, and vents in the upper part of the windows. These findings support the relevance of strengthening studies aimed at evaluating the impact of the application of the saving measures recommended by the standard. The methodology followed in this study may be of interest to designers and researchers in the evaluation of energy efficiency measures in residential buildings without air conditioning located in a tropical climate.

Reducing the Carbon Intensity of International Shipping – the Impact of Energy Efficiency Measures

Reducing the Carbon Intensity of International Shipping – the Impact of Energy Efficiency Measures

Reducing the carbon intensity of international shipping – the impact of energy efficiency measures

Reducing the carbon intensity of international shipping – the impact of energy efficiency measures

Assessing the impact of energy efficiency measures on load diagram shape\u2014a case study in the Portuguese residential sector

This paper intends to address the effect of energy efficiency and load management measures on load diagrams. In order to assess this specific impact, diagrams of load variations caused by energy efficiency measures are proposed. A case study is used to illustrate the effects of energy efficiency measures implemented under the Portuguese plan for the promotion of efficient electricity use (PPEC). The diagrams of load variations were estimated for measures targeting the residential sector which were approved in the six PPEC editions launched until presently. The measures were grouped according to the targeted energy service. The results of this case study indicate that energy distribution operators can change their load diagram by implementing energy efficiency measures in consumer dwellings, with demand reduction at critical periods. It is shown that energy efficiency in lighting measures can help smoothen the evening demand peak at 10 p.m. On the other hand, the effect of hot water measures, although beneficial in terms of energy saving, may increase the negative power gradient occurring at 9 a.m. due to photovoltaic generation under clear sky conditions. Diagrams of load variations can help to estimate the impact of energy efficiency measures on the network load diagram and can give important information for decision support to the distribution system operator, the utilities, and the energy regulator.

Quantifying the Distributional Impact of Energy Efficiency Measures

The distributional impact of the low-carbon transition is an increasingly important topic both for academics and policymakers. Quantifying where the costs and benefits fall can provide greater insight into the equity and cost-effectiveness of government policies, and improve our understanding of household investment decisions. This paper provides new evidence on the distribution of returns from energy efficiency measures both over time and across household-type. A range of econometric techniques are applied to a database of over four million households over an eight year period to quantify heterogeneity, persistence and how these factors impact the relative cost-effectiveness of measures. Results suggest that more deprived households experience lower energy savings, the difference persists over time, and that significantly heterogeneity may be present across levels of deprivation and income deciles that can not be explained by differences in baseline consumption. Measures have been largely cost-effective but savings are much lower than previous policy evaluations using ex-ante estimates would suggest.

A novel spatial based approach for estimation of space heating demand saving potential and CO2 emissions reduction in urban areas

Space heating accounts for the most significant share of final energy demand in buildings in colder climatic regions contributing to greenhouse gas emission. In addition, there is a lack of data available to assess spatially, the potential of space heating demand reduction in different buildings when considering typical building refurbishment measures. Hence, in this paper, a robust information socket for urban building stock is developed to assess the impact of energy efficiency measures on space heating demand savings and CO2 emission reduction potential in the existing buildings based on a Geographical Information System tool. The model considers the topology and thermal performance of different building categories; houses with and without thermal insulation, apartments, commercial, public, office, and industrial buildings. Three scenarios, a reference and two additional scenarios using Prishtina city as a case study, have been created for standard (scenario 1), and advanced energy efficiency (scenario 2) measures based on the government’s proposed policies. The findings show that space heat demand saving potential for scenario 1 and 2 in comparison to the reference scenario was 50% and 68.5% respectively. Moreover, the CO2 emissions are reduced significantly from 502.3 mil kgCO2/year in reference scenario to 249.8 mil kgCO2/year for scenario 1 and 158.7 mil kgCO2/year in scenario 2 respectively.

Analysis of the opportunities for improving energy efficiency in public buildings

Reducing energy consumption and maintaining an appropriate indoor air quality in buildings is a global trend. This is achieved in several ways – improving the building envelope thermal characteristics; fuel base replacement; introduction of smart energy consumption tracking systems. The aim of this paper is an analysis of the impact of energy efficiency measures introduced in buildings that provide health services. Measures have been taken to improve the energy performance of the envelope, as well as to modernize the system for the production and distribution of thermal energy. One complete year after energy savings measures implemented the total energy savings of 37.9% have been achieved. Further economic assessment has been made regarding the profitability of the applied measures.

A Novel Methodology for Evaluating the Impact of Energy Efficiency Measures on the Cabin Thermal Comfort of Electric Vehicles

Climate control systems have a largely negative effect on the energy consumption of electric vehicles and consequently on their real driving range. Improving the efficiency of climate control systems requires advanced simulation tools for an accurate evaluation of both the energy savings and thermal comfort of innovative heating and cooling solutions. In this study, the advancements beyond the state of the art consists primarily of the methodology tackling the reduction of computational costs of intensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and/or time-consuming experimental investigations and the simultaneous assessment of vehicle cabin thermal comfort and energy flows. The approach was validated against climatized chassis dyno measurements from the EU Horizon 2020 research project QUIET. Indeed, all the considered locations within the cabin were properly validated, both in steady state and transient conditions with the largest deviations at steady state below 3 °C. Additionally, the validation results show a perfect agreement for the average cabin predicted mean vote (PMV) value and a largest deviation in terms of the PMV for the other locations below 0.3. Furthermore, the applicability of the methodology is proved with the help of its application on a parametric study for which various cabin temperature setpoints and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) modes were simulated in winter operation.

DSM interactions: What is the impact of appliance energy efficiency measures on the demand response (peak load management)?

Abstract: To date, research has mostly focused on the impact of energy efficiency on the total electricity demand but not on the electricity demand profiles. To address this gap, we estimate the impact of energy efficiency measures and policies such as minimum energy performance standards on the peak load by developing a bottom-up model that generates Swiss household hourly electricity demand profiles per appliance based on time use data. The model estimates that evening appliance peak demand can be reduced by 38% when the appliances are replaced by the highest energy efficiency label available on market. We find that changing light bulbs to LED would have the same peak reduction as switching cooking or wet appliances to off-peak periods throughout the year. We also show that the evening appliance peak demand could reduce in 2035 by 24% thanks to the improvement of the energy performance of the stock. Cooking appliances, the least favourable appliances to be involved in demand response, is expected to be the highest contributors to the evening peak in 2035. Our findings show that policy makers should pay due attention to energy efficiency improvement not only for reducing electricity demand but also in order to reduce peak load.

Energy Transition and EERS: A Viable Policy Measure to Demand-side Management

본 논문은 에너지 전환을 효과적으로 추진하기 위해서는 전력공급 차원만 강조하는 것이 아니라 수요관리를 포함해서 사고해야 하다는 문제의식 하에 한국적 상황에서 효과적인 수요관리의 수단으로 에너지효율향상의무화제도를 분석한다. 본 논문은 첫째, 수요관리를 에너지 전환의 사고 속에 포함하기 위해 전력원 구성에서 에너지효율화(EE)를 포함해야 한다고 주장한다. 둘째, 에너지효율향상의무화제도(EERS)를 도입할 때 에너지 전환에 어떤 기여를 할 것인가에 대한 시물레이션 결과를 제시함으로써 수요관리 중에서도 EERS에 주목해야 한다고 주장한다.This article analyses the effect of EERS as a viable policy measure to demand-side management(DSM) amidst the national energy transition in Korea. The findings of the study suggest that demand reduction through energy efficiency(EE) should be included in the electricity generation portfolio in order to correctly capture and intuitively understand the impact of energy efficiency measures in long-term electricity supply plan. Moreover, the simulated impact of EERS to the electricity demand shows that EERS can be the most effective methods among many available EE practices if properly implemented.

Simulation Tools to Build Urban-Scale Energy Models: A Review

The development of Urban-Scale Energy Modelling (USEM) at the district or city level is currently the goal of many research groups due to the increased interest in evaluating the impact of energy efficiency measures in city environments. Because USEM comprises a great variety of analysis areas, the simulation programs that are able to model urban-scale energy systems actually consist of an assemblage of different particular sub-models. In order to simulate each of the sub-models in USEM, one can choose to use either existing specific simulation engines or tailor-made models. Engines or tools for simulation of urban-scale energy systems have already been overviewed in previous existing literature, however the distinction and classification of tools according to their functionalities within each analysis area in USEM has not been clearly presented. Therefore, the present work aims at reviewing the existing tools while classifying them according to their capabilities. The ultimate goal of this classification is to expose the available resources for implementing new co-simulation approaches in USEM, which may reduce the modelling effort and increase reliability as a result of using established and validated simulation engines.

Modeling sustainable long-term electricity supply-demand in Africa

This paper develops a scenario-based model to identify and provide an array of electricity demand in Africa, and to derive them from the African power system of development. A system-based approach is performed by applying the scenario methodology developed by Schwartz in the context of the energy-economic modeling platform ‘Long-range Energy Alternative Planning’. Four scenarios are investigated. The Business as Usual scenario (BAU) replicates the regional and national Master Plans. The renewable-promotion scenario increases the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix. The demand and supply side efficiency scenarios investigate the impact of energy efficiency measures on the power system. The results show an increase in electricity demand by 4% by 2040, supply shortages and high emissions of Greenhouse Gases. Contrary to expectations, the renewable energy scenario did not emerge as the best solution to a sustainable electrification of the region. The energy efficiency scenarios have allowed us to draw a sustainable pathway for electrification.

Weatherization impacts and baseline indoor environmental quality in low income single-family homes

Understanding the impact of energy efficiency measures on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) is important to building science and public health. Data were collected at three North Carolina locations for CO2, CO, NO2, temperature, RH, formaldehyde, radon, PM2.5, PM10, particle counts, household characteristics, and weather in 69 homes, before (PRE) and after (POST) weatherization, and in 13 control homes. Comparison of IEQ data to indoor and ambient air guidelines showed the number of homes with acceptable IEQ was the same or greater after weatherization for all parameters except temperature, and PM in smoking homes. POST compliance was over 90% for CO2, CO, Radon, and NO2 in all homes, and RH and PM in non-smoking homes. Overall POST compliance for formaldehyde was 75%, and in smoking homes 6%, 24%, and 78% for PM2.5, PM10, and RH, respectively. Wilcoxon test results, at significance level <0.05, showed decreased POST levels for radon in heating season homes, RH in heating season homes without pets, 1.0µm and 2.5μm particles in homes without pets, and increased levels of formaldehyde in cooling season homes without pets, particles >1.0μm and PM10 in heating season homes with pets, and 10µm particles in cooling season homes. Chi-Square analysis identified relationships between season and CO, NO2, and formaldehyde. Positive correlations were identified for pets and particles >1.0μm, smokers and 0.3μm and 0.5µm particles, heating season and increasing formaldehyde, and negative correlation for CO2 and ventilation.

A differentiated description of building-stocks for a georeferenced urban bottom-up building-stock model

Several building-stock modelling techniques have been employed to investigate the impact of energy efficiency measures (EEM), where the description of the building-stock generally consists of an age-type classification to specify building characteristics for groups of buildings. Such descriptions lack the appropriate level of detail to differentiate the potential for EEM within age groups. This paper proposes a methodology for building-stock description using building-specific data and measured energy use to augment an age-type building-stock classification. By integrating building characteristics from energy performance certificates, measured energy use and envelope areas from a 2.5D GIS model, the building-stock description reflects the heterogeneity of the building-stock. The proposed method is validated using a local building portfolio (N=433) in the city of Gothenburg, where modelled results for space heating and domestic hot water are compared to data from measurements, both on an individual building level and for the entire portfolio. Calculated energy use based on the building-stock description of the portfolio differ less than 3% from measured values, with 42% of the individual buildings being within a 20% margin of measured energy use indicating further work is needed to reduce or quantify the uncertainty on a building level.

Do energy efficiency measures really reduce household energy consumption? A difference-in-difference analysis

This study investigates the impact of energy efficiency measures installed through the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) on domestic gas and total energy consumptions. The recently released National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework (NEED) database is used to examine the changes in domestic gas and total energy consumptions for the dwellings in the sample relative to the changes in gas and total energy consumptions for a comparable control group in the year after installation. The results obtained from this difference-in-difference analysis confirm that observed energy consumption decreases significantly in dwellings following upgrades such as cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and a new efficient boiler. The single most effective energy efficiency measure when installed alone is found to be cavity wall insulation, reducing annual gas consumption by 10.5 % and annual total energy consumption by 8.0 % in the year following installation. Comparing bundles of different energy efficiency measures, we find that dwellings retrofitted with both cavity wall insulation and a new efficient boiler experience the largest reductions in annual gas and total energy consumptions of 13.3 and 13.5 %, respectively. This is followed by a mean annual reduction of 11.9 and 10.5 % in gas and total energy consumptions for dwellings with all three energy efficiency measures installed in the same year. Contrary to expectations, installing cavity wall insulation on its own is found to be more effective in reducing measured energy consumption than combining loft insulation and a new efficient boiler.

A dwelling-level investigation into the physical and socio-economic drivers of domestic energy consumption in England

The UK Government's Department for Energy and Climate Change has been investigating the feasibility of developing a national energy efficiency data framework covering both domestic and non-domestic buildings. Working closely with the Energy Saving Trust and energy suppliers, the aim is to develop a data framework to monitor changes in energy efficiency, develop and evaluate programmes and improve information available to consumers. Key applications of the framework are to understand trends in built stock energy use, identify drivers and evaluate the success of different policies. For energy suppliers, it could identify what energy uses are growing, in which sectors and why. This would help with market segmentation and the design of products. For building professionals, it could supplement energy audits and modelling of end-use consumption with real data and support the generation of accurate and comprehensive benchmarks. This paper critically examines the results of the first phase of work to construct a national energy efficiency data-framework for the domestic sector focusing on two specific issues: (a) drivers of domestic energy consumption in terms of the physical nature of the dwellings and socio-economic characteristics of occupants and (b) the impact of energy efficiency measures on energy consumption.