• Energy Research

Climate change impacts are burning issues now-a-days all over the world. GHG emissions are mostly due to fossil fuel burning and inefficient energy use. Energy inefficiencies occurred by use of conventional energy technologies. The textile industries are one of the major manufacturing sectors in Bangladesh and energy consumption is quite high for energy production in this sector. Due to high energy demand, most of the textile industries use non-renewable energy source like natural gas, diesel and furnace oil for energy production. This high energy demand increases high consumption of fossil fuels & accelerating emission of GHGs. So, for future sustainability, energy efficiency is must to reduce GHGs and lowering the quantity of natural gas use for energy production. Moreover, purchased electricity consumption from national grid is also increasing every year. This report shows energy efficiency incorporation by using low energy consuming technologies for HVAC systems where co-generation is used i.e. using generator exhausts or hot cooling water (as a source of heat) for making cool water and use it for air cooling which will reduce dependency on air conditioners enhancing GHGs emission reduction. This will reduce the quantity of high Global warming potential refrigerants (R-22, R-134a and R407c) used in air conditioners. No extra heat source will be required in my process design & reuse the hot water as heat source for air cooling cycle. Financial feasibility also has done which will ensure economic profitability in parallel to Energy savings & GHG reduction. This study reveals that it is possible to reduce natural gas & refrigerant’s consumption which is responsible for GHG emissions.

Abstract Energy efficiency enhancement is well recognized worldwide as the efficient measures to deal with energy-related challenges, which are economic growth and development, energy security, and climate change. For Thailand to accelerate energy efficiency implementation, the energy development plan is set to meet the national targets including the Energy Efficiency Plan target and to achieve the Greenhouse Gas emission reduction target. In many countries, financing energy efficiency promoting policy is critically important strategy to provide financial incentive for mitigating clean energy investment barrier. For long-term public support, there is an emerging body of evidence on the on-going practice and performance of the financial incentive programs, which offers an opportunity to improve our understanding of the energy efficiency promoting policy. This study reviewed the latest situation of three energy efficiency financial incentive programs that governed by Department of Alternative Energy Development and Energy Efficiency (DEDE), which are (1) Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF), (2) Energy Service Company Revolving Fund (ESCO Fund), (3) DEDE Demand Side Management Bidding (DSM Bidding). The study aims to examine the positive and negative challenges posed by existing policies that need to be overcome and to identify the opportunities for policy improvement to more effectively promote energy efficiency implementation. EERF and DSM Bidding are suitably designed for large company who has strong financial capacity. ESCO Fund is well-designed for low collateral capacity company. EE measures under EERF are mostly well-known technologies that are proven generating energy savings. ESCO Fund is suitable for promoting new technologies according to project-based analysing basis. DSM Bidding can be designed for wide-range EE measures from simple to complex measures. However, there are some main challenges that can be improved, i.e., technical and financial risks bearing by customers from EERF, default projects risk taken by government and insufficient to encourage EE investment of low interest rate from ESCO Fund, and expanding to support more for complex technology instead of only well-known technology for DSM Bidding.

Energy efficiency efforts are getting more importance due to the increasing difficulty to access the energy resources and global environmental problems especially climate change. Energy efficiency is a vital issue for Turkey like all the other countries to continue the sustainable development. Since the industrial sector has a large share in energy consumption, efficiency studies have focused on this sector. Textile is an energy-intensive industry by using large amounts of electricity and fuel. That is one of the sectors taking part in the locomotive of Turkey's economic development due to the manufacturing process and highly shared exportation. This study analyses energy efficiency studies and energy saving potential in a textile finishing factory in Turkey that has an energy management system (EnMS) application with a capacity of approximately 6000 TEP annual energy consumption. Energy performance of the factory including production and auxiliary utilities was analyzed with identification of energy consumption and the cost distribution. Accordingly, significant energy consumers (SECs) were determined for the application of energy efficiency measures. The energy saving rate of the factory is determined approximately 7% of the energy consumption value of 2016 after the energy efficiency improvements.

The approval of the Energy Act 2006 in Kenya was followed with energy audits and efficiency campaigns, collaboration by different institutions and specialized training driven using various platforms. The energy audits help in the identification of conservation opportunities. Since 2006, over 1,000 energy audits have been performed. Efforts have been made to advance the management of the energy agenda in addition to establishing an enabling and effective environment through legislation. These methods include energy efficiency campaigns like the replacement of inefficient bulbs with LEDs that targeted more than a million households by the national utility company Kenya Power through its Demand Side Management department. The study adopted a descriptive research design and targeted hotels and restaurants within Nairobi. Primary data was collected by means of a semi structured questionnaire. The same unit is in-charge of ensuring that consumers use the energy they have efficiently by readily offering information. According to the Energy Regulations 2012, Energy audits are compulsory for facilities that have an annual consumption above 180,001 kWh. The sector is regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) which issues licenses through a rigorous process to individuals and firms who have qualified to conduct energy audits within the designated facilities. Learning institutions have also started coming up with specialized training to assist in capacity building of individuals within the sector. Several certification courses which are recognized in the country and internationally have been embraced by the regulating body and the experts in the fraternity. This review paper aimed at investigating the implementation of measures of energy efficiency, savings attained and the challenges faces in different organizations within the hospitality sector in Kenya. The paper aimed at solving the problem of energy efficiency measures in the hospitality sector since there are no proper placed policies managing the energy sector in Kenya.

Sea Lion applied for and received a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) towards this end titled “Energy Efficiency Development and Deployment in Indian Country”. The initial objectives of the Hooper Bay Energy Efficiency Feasibility Study were to demonstrate a 30% reduction in residential/commercial energy usage and identify the economic benefits of implementing energy efficiency measures to the Tribe through: (1) partnering with Whitney Construction and Solutions for Healthy Breathing in the training and hire of 2 local energy assessors to conduct energy audits of 9 representative housing models and 2 commercial units in the community. These homes are representative of 52 homes constructed across different eras. (2) partnering with Cold Climate Housing Research Center to document current electrical and heating energy consumption and analyze data for a final feasibility report (3) assessing the economics of electricity & heating fuel usage; (4) projecting energy savings or fossil fuel reduction by modeling of improvement scenarios and cost feasibility The following two objectives will be completed after the publication of this report: (5) the development of materials lists for energy efficiency improvements (6) identifying financing options for the follow-up energy efficiency implementation phase.

European Industry plays a key role in the achievement of the targets set by the Energy Efficiency Directive published in 2012. Many Countries in the European Union have, in fact, adopted schemes and mechanisms to implement the Directive by incentivising the adoption of more efficient technologies in industry: however, big differences of approach still remain among the Member States, both in terms of assessment of the efficiency and sustainability of the measures and in terms of economic and/or financial support to the projects. As a consequence, a huge amount of the energy efficiency potential still remains untapped. This paper proposes some criteria for the evaluation of the applied Energy Efficiency measures based on their energetic, economic and environmental performances, thus, more in general, on their sustainability. The proposed criteria have been developed in the H2020 project EU¬MERCI and through a national research ("Ricerca di Sistema" national funding system), both coordinated by RSE, and have led to the identification of the most promising measures in industry (called "Good Practices"). The starting point is the creation of an harmonized database collecting energy efficiency projects developed and incentivised in different EU countries within national energy efficiency implementation schemes. Then, some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been defined and calculated, in order to assess the energetic, environmental and economic performances of the measures. After that, the "Good Practices" have been identified, ranked according to the calculated KPIs and, finally, evaluated through the technical expertise of stakeholders in the field. The real added value of this approach is that it is full based on tangibly implemented en-ergy efficiency projects, in opposition to similar attempts, essentially theoretical. Ultimately, it offers a key of assessment of the sustainability of energy efficiency measures implemented under local and EU policies.

Abstract Through a social science approach rooted in grounded theory, this research paper provides a form of an uncertainty theory in organizations, exploring how alternate forms of rationality and approaches to dealing with uncertainty result in variation in energy efficiency related actions and outcomes. Through data analysis, structural conditions are identified, frames for considering energy efficiency are uncovered, and two approaches for dealing with uncertainty are interpreted. Hospitals that approach uncertainty by 'Demanding Certainty' make use of one of two frames: 'Temporal Silos' or' Alternate priorities'. These hospitals communicate by presenting, selling and confirming, resulting in risk avoiding organizations where individuals absorb associated risks, and long-term energy efficiency implementation stalls. Hospitals that approach uncertainty by 'Managing Complexity' envision energy efficiency as complementary to patient care and driving long-term resiliency. These hospitals communicate through negotiation and collaboration, expanding thinking beyond short term budgetary intervals, driving resiliency and bridging operational silos. Organizations, and not individuals, absorb risks associated with energy efficiency, and implementation of initiatives occur over longer time horizons.

Improved energy efficiency is one of the key elements to decouple energy-related emissions from economic growth. Since the energy management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises are underdeveloped, most of the energy efficiency potential is left untapped. Studies show that several barriers pertaining to economic, technological, and organizational systems lead to poor implementation rates of energy efficiency measures. An energy efficiency network is considered effective in overcoming these barriers and promoting energy management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper explores the role of energy efficiency networks, and specifically the role of its functions in overcoming the identified barriers from literature. This study was carried out as a multiple case study including 13 industrial small and medium-sized enterprises using semi-structured interviews with participants from companies in a Swedish regional energy efficiency network program. Results show that energy efficiency networks are effective in overcoming some of the barriers to energy efficiency implementation and that the present functions are effective in addressing some barriers faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, e.g., energy efficiency implementation barriers such as lack of time and resources. However, some barriers still remain as constraints for energy efficiency implementation, even after energy efficiency network participation. Funding Agencies|European Commissions Interreg program; European Regional Development FundEuropean Commission; Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth; Region Gavleborg; University of Gavle