Primary Energy Requirements Research Articles

Residential building envelope heat gain and cooling energy requirements

We present the energy use situation in Hong Kong from 1979 to 2001. The primary energy requirement (PER) nearly tripled during the 23-year period, rising from 195,405 TJ to 572,684 TJ. Most of the PER was used for electricity generation, and the electricity use in residential buildings rose from 7556 TJ (2099 GWh) to 32,799 TJ (9111 GWh), an increase of 334%. Air-conditioning accounted for about 40% of the total residential sector electricity consumption. A total of 144 buildings completed in the month of June during 1992–2001 were surveyed. Energy performance of the building envelopes was investigated in terms of the overall thermal transfer value (OTTV). To develop the appropriated parameters used in OTTV calculation, long-term measured weather data such as ambient temperature (1960–2001), horizontal global solar radiation (1992–2001) and global solar radiation on vertical surfaces (1996–2001) were examined. The OTTV found varied from 27 to 44 W/m 2 with a mean value of 37.7 W/m 2. Building energy simulation technique using DOE-2.1E was employed to determine the cooling requirements and hence electricity use for building envelope designs with different OTTVs. It was found that cooling loads and electricity use could be expressed in terms of a simple two-parameter linear regression equation involving OTTV.

A Spatial Structural Decomposition Analysis of Chinese and Japanese Energy Demand: 1985–1990

This paper proposes a spatial structural decomposition analysis to measure the effects of the changes in intra- and inter-country linkages on the embodied energy demand in the concerned country. For the empirical analysis, we have used the China-Japan inter-country input–output tables for 1985 and 1990, expressed in constant prices of 1990. The empirical results reveal that (1) at least for the period between 1985 and 1990, the effects of the non-competitive input structural changes in China on the primary energy requirements of Japan were negligible, and (2) the contribution of the Japanese final demand shifts on the total change in Chinese primary energy demand was 40 times larger than that of the Chinese final demand shifts on the primary energy requirements of Japan. The Japanese policy makers should concentrate on the energy impacts of the changes in the domestic production structure rather than the changes in the Chinese production structure.

Impact of cogeneration on integrated resource planning of Turkey

In most developing countries, difficulties in finding sector-specific data on heat rate and power demands make energy planning a hard task. In some countries, although this data is available, it may be four or five years old. In the present work, a new low-cost method is proposed for developing countries aiming at obtaining such data for the industrial sector quickly. Fifty-two textile factories were selected for a survey to represent the industrial sector. The data were processed and used to generate two scenarios of cogeneration applications in the industrial sector; one sized according to the electrical load of the factories, and the other one according to the thermal load. The costs and primary energy requirements of these programs were compared with that of the nuclear alternative. It was found that the most energy efficient and economical option for Turkey was the cogeneration program, the equipment sizing of which was based on the process heat demand of the industrial sector. Turkey would not only save US$ 72.6-billion by deferring the nuclear program, but it will also reduce the total primary energy demand by 11% in 2020.

Limited LCAs of pharmaceutical products: merits and limitations of an environmental management tool

AbstractThis article explores both the merits and the limitations of life cycle analysis (LCA) as an environmental management tool in the framework of the pharmaceutical industry.In this study, limited LCAs in the form of product lifecycle‐oriented energy balances were established for two rather different pharmaceutical products. Primary energy requirements served as the single indicator for the products' direct and indirect environmental impacts. The functional units of the products were defined as the one year treatments of average patients.The results of the case studies indicate that the portion of the active substance in the pharmaceutical end product is an important predictor for the breakdown of energy requirements and thus environmental impacts over the life cycle. Despite its limitations, the energy balances provide first‐hand indications of where eco‐efficiency measures should be taken. In this sense, the limited LCAs served as a useful environmental management tool. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment

Toward a scenario analysis framework for energy footprints

There has been much improvement in calculation of the ecological footprint (EF) since 1996, when Wackernagel and Rees initially suggested it as a sustainable development index to evaluate human dependence on ecosystems in terms of land and water areas. However, despite the improvements the EF remains a static index, revealing only the current reality, so that it is criticized for its lack of use in policy formulation. This criticism is more concerned with the energy footprint because it dominates the estimated EF in many case studies, and its size would change almost simultaneously when alternative energy policies are implemented. One main reason for this deficiency is that the original calculation method does not explicitly take into account the linkages among the final consumption of goods and services, final energy consumption, and primary energy requirements. However, these linkages may contribute to scenarios and simulation of policy instruments for reducing energy footprints. This paper proposes a calculation framework to include the concerned linkages in order to: (1) estimate energy footprints according to the primary energies embodied in the goods and services consumed by a defined human population; and (2) develop scenarios and simulation of policy instruments for reducing energy footprints. This framework is then applied to Taiwan to illustrate how it works and what needs to be improved in future studies.

The Future of Gaseous Fuels in Hong Kong

There are three types of gaseous fuel in Hong Kong. Natural gas, exclusively used for power generation and imported under a 20‐year contract, accounted for 16 per cent of total primary energy requirements in 1998. Towngas, manufactured from naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas are the two other kinds, accounting for about 9.5 per cent of the final energy requirement in recent years. The first part of this paper analyses the competition between these two gaseous fuels since 1984, elucidating in detail how towngas came to dominate the gaseous fuel market.The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would like to boost the use of natural gas in Hong Kong, on account of its environmental benefits and cost competitiveness. It is considering the possibility of using natural gas to replace the other two gaseous fuels and adopting the common carrier system, in order to spur competition in the gaseous fuel market. The second part of the study evaluates the feasibility of converting to natural gas and opening up the pipeline system, putting forth a rough schedule for the whole process.

A life-cycle analysis on thin-film CdS/CdTe PV modules

Authors have evaluated the life cycle of a thin-film CdS/CdTe PV module to estimate the energy payback time (EPT) and the life-cycle CO 2 emissions of a residential rooftop PV system using the CdS/CdTe PV modules. The primary energy requirement for producing 1 m 2 of the CdS/CdTe PV module was similar to a-Si PV module at annual production scale of 100 MW. EPT was calculated at 1.7–1.1 yr, which was much shorter than the lifetime of the PV system and similar to that of a-Si PV modules. The life-cycle CO 2 emissions were also estimated at 14–9 g-C/kWh, which was less than that of electricity generated by utility companies.

Perils of Long-Range Energy Forecasting: Reflections on Looking Far Ahead

Critical examinations of long-range energy forecasts show a remarkable extent of individual and collective failure in predicting actual developments in five distinct areas examined in this article: major energy conversions, primary energy requirements, sectoral needs, exhaustion of energy resources, and energy substitutions. This experiences demonstrates that we should abandon detailed quantitative point forecasts in favor of the decision analysis or contingency planning under a range of alternative (exploratory as well as normative) scenarios.

Indicators of carbon emission intensity from commercial energy use in India

This study tries to analyze the commercial energy consumption evolution patterns in India in terms of primary energy requirements and final energy consumption and their implications for overall carbon intensity of the economy. The relative contribution and impact of different factors such as activity levels, structural changes, energy intensity, fuel mix and fuel quality on the changes in aggregate carbon intensity of the economy has been studied, taking into account coal quality which has declined drastically in the last two decades. The major findings of the study are: firstly, from the 1980s onwards, income effect has been the major determinant of India’s per capita emission increase, although prior to that, energy intensity used to be the most important factor. Secondly, there has been a major shift towards electricity from primary energy carriers in the major energy consuming sectors, and the higher end use-efficiency of electricity has been able to compensate for the high emission coefficient of electricity consumption. Thirdly, emission intensity of thermal power generation shows a substantial decline when the data is controlled for the declining quality of coal used in power generation.

Vicissitudes in the Hong Kong oil market, 1980-97

Hong Kong, devoid of natural resources, has to import all the energy it consumes. Up to 1981, oil accounted for almost 100 per cent of the total primary energy requirement, of which about 59 per cent was used to generate electricity. Starting in 1982, the electricity sector switched to coal generation, leading to plummeting oil consumption. The conversion process was essentially completed by 1988. Local sales of oil products declined from 5.790 million kilolitres in 1981 to 3.470m kl in 1987, but climbed back to 5.157m kl in 1997: oil consumption stagnated between 1981 and 1997. This paper analyses the fluctuations in oil consumption during the period, covering use by the utility and non-utility sectors. Next, it deals with consumption of, and the factors involved in, the six major oil products, i.e. fuel oil, diesel, gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene and jet fuel. Interestingly, bunker sales, including air and sea transport, rose noticeably during these years, partly offsetting the effect of slumping oil sales to the power plants and helping boost total oil demand in the 1990s. Lastly, a glimpse into the future of the Hong Kong oil market is taken.

The energy requirement of cut flowers and consumer options to reduce it

Like all consumer products, cut flowers require energy during their life cycle. The aim of this article is to examine how households can reduce their primary energy requirement for the decorative and gift functions provided so far by cut flowers without reducing their consumption level, also taking into account the financial cost. In 1990, an average Dutch household purchased 11 times one or more bouquets containing a total of about 250 flowers for Dfl. 170, which require together about 2.2 GJ, 1% of the total primary household energy requirement. The energy intensity of flowers is among the highest of all non-energy household purchases: on average 12.9 MJ/Dfl. The high energy requirement of cut flowers makes it interesting to take a closer look at less energy-intensive alternatives, like replacing flowers as a gift with other presents, making more use of flowering indoor plants and selecting less energy-intensive flowers (from abroad, other species, other seasons). The calculations suggest that if all the energy reduction options discussed here are applied to a substantial extent, the cumulative energy required for flowers purchased by an average Dutch household can be halved. More research is needed to investigate the acceptance of the proposed measures and the feasibility of a combination of measures.

Primary energy and greenhouse gases embodied in Australian final consumption: an input–output analysis

Input–output modeling of primary energy and greenhouse gas embodiments in goods and services is a useful technique for designing greenhouse gas abatement policies. The present paper describes direct and indirect primary energy and greenhouse gas requirements for a given set of Australian final consumption. It considers sectoral disparities in energy prices, capital formation and international trade flows and it accounts for embodiments in the Gross National Expenditure as well as the Gross Domestic Product. Primary energy and greenhouse gas intensities in terms of MJ/$ and kg CO2-e/$ are reported, as well as national balances of primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The US/Japan comparison of energy intensity. Estimating the real gap

Total primary energy requirement (TPER) divided by gross domestic product (GDP) is a commonly used indicator that measures national energy efficiency. However, this indicator is too approximate to represent actual efficiency and is misleading. This paper tries to estimate a ‘real and single’ indicator that can be used for international comparison of energy intensity directly. A case study between the US and Japan indicates that the US consumes only 23% more energy than Japan, while a comparison using TPER/GDP shows that the US consumes 72% more.

Seasonal variation in the consumption of food by fish in the North Sea and implications for food web dynamics

Previous North Sea food web studies are reviewed. These studies used estimates of primary production and fish energy requirements, then manipulated the energy flow pathway between the two to balance the budget. The resulting pathways largely ignored actual fish diets and consumption rates. In the present paper, North Sea biomass flow food webs are constructed for each quarter of the year from published estimates of fish abundance, diet and daily food consumption, and using long-term Continuous Plankton Recorder and North Sea benthos survey data. Estimates of daily production of each component of the web are derived from specific daily growth and gross growth efficiency measurements. The flow of biomass from secondary production to fish is sufficient to supply the food requirements of planktivorous pelagic fish and benthivorous demersal fish. Piscivorous pelagic fish obtain much of their food requirements from outside the North Sea. The food requirements of piscivorous demersal fish also do not appear to be adequately supplied from within the North Sea, but, in this case, immigration is not thought to provide the shortfall. The high predation pressure on demersal piscivores may explain why this group appears to be especially vulnerable to fishing. The supply of biomass from primary production to secondary producers appears to be sufficient without the need to postulate import into the North Sea. Indeed, the supply to the benthos is such that a detritivore trophic level can be inserted between organic settlement and production of macrobenthos.

Applications of heat pumps in chemical processing

Heat pumps have enormous potential for reducing the primary energy requirements of various processes. For the heat pump to be an economic proposition, there are a number of basic conditions that must be satisfied. In the light of these conditions and on both experimental and theoretical data, a wide range of applications has been discussed.

Energy and CO 2 emissions in Spain : Methodology of analysis and some results for 1980–1990

The article presents a methodology for estimating energy demand and carbon emissions generated by different uses of energy and for separating the different effects which explain the changes in energy demand and carbon emissions. In contrast with other analyses we do not try to distribute the energy demand in terms of final consumption but in terms of primary energy requirements and we do not consider the energy sector as an economic sector. The methodology consists of finding a vector which for any unit of commercial energy (such as electricity, petroleum products, gas) gives the requirements of the different primary energy sources. The article applies the methodology to the case of Spain for the period from 1980 to 1990.

Eurasian energy prospects and politics: Need for a longer-term western strategy

The Eurasian world around the Caspian Sea is likely to become an important oil and natural gas producer. This region is a gateway to three regions that are of great strategic importance to the West: to the east lies China and the rest of Asia; to the south lies Iran, Afghanistan, and the Islamic world; to the west and north lies Russia, Turkey and Europe. This is a region much larger than Western Europe. Future developments in Eurasia will therefore affect fundamentally not only the security of Western energy supplies, but also the traditional geopolitical equation in that part of the globe. The West needs to address current problems there as well as to pursue a proactive policy of conflict prevention. The European Union already imports half of its primary energy requirements, which will increase to 75% by the year 2020. Mutually rewarding energy cooperation offers the best means for integrating this region into the world family of market democracies. Turkey, a reassuringly Western ally, stands well positioned geographically, politically and economically to act as an energy ‘bridge’ between Eurasia and the West.

Energy consumption in Hong Kong

We review energy consumption and economic growth in Hong Kong for the period 1979–1991. There have been substantial increases in primary energy requirements, especially for electricity generation. Primary and final energy consumption have been calculated for five sectors (industrial, commercial, residential and transport uses, as well as export of electricity to China). Building stocks account for nearly half of the total energy consumption. Issues relating to energy conservation in buildings are discussed.

Oil and gas in Ireland - exploration, production and research

Ireland produces an average of 239 mmcf (6.76 million m³) of gas per day from two offshore gasfields. This represents about 18% of the country's primary energy requirements. A pipeline network relays gas to most of the major centres of population and industry and the construction of a gas import/export interconnector with the UK started early in 1993. The country has one refinery. situated on the south coast.

Energy use in Denmark

This paper reviews the evolution of energy use in Denmark since the early 1970s, in order to shed light on the future path of energy use in Denmark, with particular emphasis on the role of energy efficiency. Improvements in end‐use energy efficiency reduced primary energy requirements in Denmark by 22% between 1972 and 1988. This change accounts for two‐thirds of the decline in the ratio of energy use to gross domestic product that occurred during this time: the rest of the decline was caused by changes in the mix of goods and services produced and consumed by the Danes. Total energy savings achieved between 1972 and 1988 in Denmark ranked among the highest measured in any major OECD country. Overall, most of the energy savings in Denmark were brought about through improvements in technology. Short‐term changes in consumer behaviour were significant in reducing energy needs for space heating and transport. An important stimulus for improved efficiency was higher energy prices, led in no small part by significant taxes imposed on small consumers of heating oil, electricity and motor fuels.