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Industrial Energy Efficiency

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2016) | Viewed by 24677

Special Issue Editors

1. Department of Management and Engineering (IEI), Linkoping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
2. Department of Building, Energy and Environment Engineering, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Interests: industrial energy management; energy efficiency in SMEs, barriers to and drivers for energy efficiency, energy audits, energy policies for improved industrial energy end-use, industrial energy efficiency potentials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico Di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4/b, building 26/B, 20156 Milano, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency; energy use; energy efficiency measures (EEMs); adoption process; barriers; drivers; non-energy benefits; multiple benefits; manufacturing; small–medium enterprises (SMEs)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Industrial energy efficiency is key factor for mitigating climate change. For industrial companies, reduced energy costs is crucial in maintaining a competitive edge. The potential for improved energy efficiency is large and varies between sectors and also between individual companies. However, the realization of the energy efficiency potential is dependent on, among other features, the characteristics of the energy efficiency measure. Additionally, energy management issues play an important role if and how an organization succeeds or not with improved energy efficiency. Research on the implementation of energy efficiency measures shows that the implementation many times is hindered by the existence of various barriers to energy efficiency.

In order to overcome barriers to energy efficiency various methods for improved energy efficiency exists such as optimization and simulation, pinch analysis, energy management systems, monitoring, evaluation, etc. Additionally, in order to promote improved industrial energy efficiency from governments, effective design and implementation of various energy policy instruments play an important role. Two of the most known industrial energy policy instruments are energy audit policy programs, and Voluntary Agreements (VA), also named Long-Term Agreements (LTA).

This Special Issue calls for state-of-the-art papers in the field of industrial energy efficiency.

Assoc. Prof. Patrik Thollander
Prof. Dr. Enrico Cagno
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • case studies
  • optimization and simulation studies
  • barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency
  • industrial energy efficiency policies
  • industrial energy management
  • industrial energy auditing
  • internet of things related to industrial energy efficiency
  • industrial energy end-use data monitoring and visualization
  • industrial energy end-use data evaluation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

3012 KiB  
Article
Robust Operation of Energy Storage System with Uncertain Load Profiles
by Jangkyum Kim, Yohwan Choi, Seunghyoung Ryu and Hongseok Kim
Energies 2017, 10(4), 416; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10040416 - 23 Mar 2017
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4997
Abstract
In this paper, we propose novel techniques to reduce total cost and peak load of factories from a customer point of view. We control energy storage system (ESS) to minimize the total electricity bill under the Korea commercial and industrial (KCI) tariff, which [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose novel techniques to reduce total cost and peak load of factories from a customer point of view. We control energy storage system (ESS) to minimize the total electricity bill under the Korea commercial and industrial (KCI) tariff, which both considers peak load and time of use (ToU). Under the KCI tariff, the average peak load, which is the maximum among all average power consumptions measured every 15 min for the past 12 months, determines the monthly base cost, and thus peak load control is extremely critical. We aim to leverage ESS for both peak load reduction based on load prediction as well as energy arbitrage exploiting ToU. However, load prediction inevitably has uncertainty, which makes ESS operation challenging with KCI tariff. To tackle it, we apply robust optimization to minimize risk in a real environment. Our approach significantly reduces the peak load by 49.9% and the total cost by 10.8% compared to the case that does not consider load uncertainty. In doing this we also consider battery degradation cost and validate the practical use of the proposed techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Energy Efficiency)
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739 KiB  
Article
Where Diffusion of Clean Technologies and Barriers to Innovation Clash: Application to the Global Diffusion of the Electrical Arc Furnace
by José Antonio Moya
Energies 2017, 10(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010109 - 17 Jan 2017
Viewed by 4712
Abstract
This paper analyses the role of barriers preventing the worldwide take-up of a clean technology: the electrical arc furnace. It also identifies which barriers affect a parameter that summarises the combined effect of all of them. The first step, determination of the combined [...] Read more.
This paper analyses the role of barriers preventing the worldwide take-up of a clean technology: the electrical arc furnace. It also identifies which barriers affect a parameter that summarises the combined effect of all of them. The first step, determination of the combined effect of the barriers, is carried out using a novel approach to model the diffusion of innovations. This new approach is composed only by terms that account for the driver of innovations and the parameter that summarises the effect of barriers. The objective quantification of the effect of barriers in the diffusion of innovations opens up new opportunities for designing policies to overcome the barriers identified as the most relevant, for identifying the effect of existing policies, for relating innovation indicators with those barriers or for better incorporating the effect of barriers in bottom-up models that forecast the technological evolution of the economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Energy Efficiency)
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450 KiB  
Article
Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Swedish Non-Energy-Intensive Micro- and Small-Sized Enterprises—A Case Study of a Local Energy Program
by Fredrik Backman
Energies 2017, 10(1), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010100 - 14 Jan 2017
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 4773
Abstract
Improved energy efficiency has become a strategic issue and represents a priority for European competitiveness. Countries adopt various energy policies on local and national levels where energy audit programs are the most common energy end-use efficiency policy for industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises [...] Read more.
Improved energy efficiency has become a strategic issue and represents a priority for European competitiveness. Countries adopt various energy policies on local and national levels where energy audit programs are the most common energy end-use efficiency policy for industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, studies indicate that cost-efficient energy conservation measures are not always implemented, which can be explained by the existence of barriers to energy efficiency. This paper investigates how Swedish municipalities can support local micro- and small-sized enterprises with improved energy efficiency and the existence of different barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency. Relating this empirical case study to the theoretical barriers outlined in the text, this study found that the major explanatory factors related to non-implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency measures among micro- and small-sized industrial enterprises were bounded rationality (lack of time and/or other priorities), split incentives (having other priorities for capital investments), and imperfect information (slim organization and lack of technical skill). This study also found that information in the form of a report was the main thing that companies gained from working on the project “Energy-Driven Business”. Notably, the study involved companies that had participated in a local energy program and, still, companies face major barriers inhibiting implementation, indicating a need to further study other alternative policy models and how knowledge transfer can be improved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Energy Efficiency)
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362 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Management System Approach for Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvements
by Thomas Zobel and Charlotte Malmgren
Energies 2016, 9(10), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9100774 - 24 Sep 2016
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4971
Abstract
Voluntary environmental management systems (EMS) based on the international standard ISO 14001 have become widespread globally in recent years. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of voluntary management systems on energy efficiency in the Swedish manufacturing industry by means [...] Read more.
Voluntary environmental management systems (EMS) based on the international standard ISO 14001 have become widespread globally in recent years. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of voluntary management systems on energy efficiency in the Swedish manufacturing industry by means of objective industrial energy data derived from mandatory annual environmental reports. The study focuses on changes in energy efficiency over a period of 12 years and includes both ISO 14001-certified companies and non-certified companies. Consideration is given to energy improvement efforts in the companies before the adoption of ISO 14001. The analysis has been carried out using statistical methods for two different industrial energy parameters: electricity and fossil fuel consumption. The results indicate that ISO 14001 adoption and certification has increased energy efficiency regarding the use of fossil fuel. In contrast, no effect of the management systems has been found concerning the use of electricity. The mixed results of this study are only partly in line with the results of previous studies based on perceptions of company representatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Energy Efficiency)
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596 KiB  
Article
A Natural Analogy to the Diffusion of Energy-Efficient Technologies
by José Antonio Moya
Energies 2016, 9(6), 471; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9060471 - 18 Jun 2016
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4707
Abstract
A new mathematical approach to the diffusion of energy-efficient technologies is presented using the diffusion of natural processes as an analogy. This approach is applied to the diffusion of the electric arc furnace in Japan. The main advantage offered by the new approach [...] Read more.
A new mathematical approach to the diffusion of energy-efficient technologies is presented using the diffusion of natural processes as an analogy. This approach is applied to the diffusion of the electric arc furnace in Japan. The main advantage offered by the new approach is the incorporation of an average effect of barriers to, and support measures for, innovation. This approach also incorporates some of the parameters influencing the cost-effectiveness of the investment in the new technology as the main driver for adopting the innovation. The straightforward equivalence between natural phenomena and the diffusion of innovation requires the conceptual abstraction of setting a dimension (and defining) the medium in which the diffusion takes place. This new approach opens new research paths to analysing under what circumstances innovations can take-off, the effect of barriers in the diffusion of energy efficient technologies, or how the diffusion process is incorporated in energy-system models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Industrial Energy Efficiency)
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