The Experts below are selected from a list of 1413 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Junping Ji - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the impact of Industrial structure Efficiency on provincial Industrial Energy Efficiency in china
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019Co-Authors: Siqin Xiong, Junping JiAbstract:Abstract Regional disparity in terms of Industrial Energy Efficiency is noticeable in China due to the unbalanced economic progress in past decades. Analyzing the provincial Industrial Energy Efficiency and its influencing factors is of great significance to formulate differentiated policies. To date, the influence of many social-economic factors on the Industrial Energy Efficiency have been examined but the impact of the inter-industry structure has almost been ignored. In this paper, the slacks-based measure model incorporating undesirable output is applied to evaluate the Industrial Energy Efficiency both at the provincial level and the sectoral level in China for the period 2010 to 2016. Then, Industrial structure Efficiency is introduced, which reflects the inter-industry structure and takes the sectoral-level Energy Efficiency into consideration. And the impact of the Industrial structure Efficiency on provincial Industrial Energy Efficiency is tested by Tobit regression model. The results show that huge discrepancies of provincial Industrial Energy Efficiency exist and the Industrial structure Efficiency is confirmed to be a determinative factor to the provincial Industrial Energy Efficiency, with the coefficient of 0.525. Policy recommendations are provided for adjusting the provincial inter-industry structure and improving the Industrial Energy Efficiency.
Andrea Trianni - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A multi-stakeholder analysis of the economic Efficiency of Industrial Energy Efficiency policies: Empirical evidence from ten years of the Italian White Certificate Scheme
Applied Energy, 2019Co-Authors: Simone Franzò, Federico Frattini, Enrico Cagno, Andrea TrianniAbstract:Abstract There is growing interest worldwide in more effective policies to promote Industrial Energy Efficiency and mitigate climate change. The White Certificates Scheme is a market-based mechanism aimed at stimulating the adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures. The Italian White Certificates scheme - one of the most long-standing and articulated - is a successful example of Industrial Energy Efficiency policies, considered an interesting and remarkable case by other countries, especially due to its robustness in terms of the volume of certificates traded. Despite the considerable interest in White Certificates, an in-depth analysis of the economic Efficiency of the mechanism from the perspective of different stakeholders is still lacking. To address this gap, this study develops a cost-benefit evaluation framework and a multi-stakeholder economic Efficiency analysis of the Italian White Certificates scheme focusing on the Italian State, utilities, players in the Energy Efficiency value chain, and Energy users. Our findings (also corroborated with sensitivity analyses) show that the White Certificates Scheme has led to several positive impacts for almost all stakeholders involved, with the exception of Energy utilities that have suffered a major economic loss mainly due to a reduction of Energy sold to end users. Such loss is likely to promote a deep change in the role of utilities in the Energy market in terms of the services they offer and their business models. Our findings, in addition to providing useful directions for future research, offer interesting insights and implications for policymakers who may take inspiration from the pros and cons of the Italian White Certificates scheme when promoting Energy Efficiency through incentive mechanisms.
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classification of drivers for Industrial Energy Efficiency and their effect on the barriers affecting the investment decision making process
Energy Efficiency, 2017Co-Authors: Andrea Trianni, E Cagno, Federico Marchesani, Giovanni SpallinaAbstract:Industrial Energy Efficiency represents a priority for European Industrial competitiveness. Many studies offer contributions providing evidence of the existence of driving forces supporting the adoption of Energy Efficiency measures, but a structured approach to drivers for Industrial Energy Efficiency is still lacking. Therefore, in the present study, we propose a definition of drivers, making emphasis on the Industrial decision-maker perspective, that is needed for their classification here proposed. Focus is given to point out the difference between internal and external drivers, highlighting the major stakeholders responsible for their promotion. Drivers are further categorized into: regulatory, economic, informative, and vocational training. Moreover, we propose a framework describing the effect of drivers on barriers in the decision-making process, as well as a preliminary identification of the major stakeholders to promote drivers. The study opens several opportunities for further research in the area of Industrial Energy Efficiency.
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Evaluating the barriers to specific Industrial Energy Efficiency measures: an exploratory study in small and medium-sized enterprises
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2014Co-Authors: Enrico Cagno, Andrea TrianniAbstract:Abstract Industrial Energy Efficiency has raised to the top of European Energy policy agenda, and particular efforts should be placed to tackle the barriers to Energy Efficiency of small and non-Energy intensive Industrial users. To enhance the adoption rate of a specific Industrial Energy Efficiency measure, it is crucial to properly evaluate the barriers. Without a proper level of detail – considering both the measure's specificity and the evaluation's perspective – company managers are hampered when making investment decisions, and policymakers are prevented from developing the most effective policies. The paper aims at highlighting that the value of a given intervention-dependent barrier may differ when evaluating it at the company level, by technology area, or with respect to a specific measure. To achieve this objective, an exploratory investigation of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises into the metalworking sector has been performed with respect to selected cross-cutting technologies. Although general barriers appear as most relevant at the company level, large differences appear when considering intervention-dependent barriers by technology area as well as at the Energy Efficiency measure level. The research presents innovative results, as the literature and policymakers have not accounted so far for how the value of barriers can effectively vary with respect to a single measure, but have only considered barriers at company level. Additionally, the paper highlights that differences can be appreciated when evaluating the intervention-dependent barriers according to some firm characteristics (i.e. size, production complexity, and innovativeness). The study concludes with suggestions for policymakers as well as Industrial decision-makers.
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a novel approach for barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2013Co-Authors: E Cagno, Andrea Trianni, Ernst Worrell, G PuglieseAbstract:A critical review of the literature highlighted the need for a new taxonomy encompassing the most relevant barriers stemmed from previous studies, and accounting for interactions and independences of the barriers to avoid overlaps and implicit interactions. Based on an extensive literature review the paper provides a novel approach for barriers to the adoption of Industrial Energy-efficient technologies, coping with the issues risen by the review of the literature. We developed a taxonomy adaptable to empirical research, and able to evaluate the differences between perceived and real barriers, the effect of the barriers on decision-making processes, and the interactions among barriers. We modeled three types of interactions, i.e., causal relationship, composite effect and hidden effect, in order to start analyzing the dynamics among barriers, and tested the taxonomy in a preliminary investigation. The study proposes a useful instrument both to enterprises and policy-makers to identify critical factors to improve Industrial Energy Efficiency and to open the research to further investigation in this topic.
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barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency in foundries a european comparison
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2013Co-Authors: Andrea Trianni, Patrik Thollander, E Cagno, Sandra BacklundAbstract:According to recent studies, the 20% European improvement in Energy Efficiency will not be achieved with current trends, even with the adoption of present policies to reduce primary Energy use. This is due to the existence of several barriers that hinder the adoption of the Energy-efficient technologies and practices. A relevant contribution to improved Energy Efficiency could come from the Industrial sector, due to its relevance on total Energy use. This study therefore addresses barriers within the European foundry industry, a major Industrial Energy user and a strategic player for the European economy. The research investigates the barriers to Energy Efficiency at 65 foundries, several of them small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), highlighting the critical problems and difficulties by evaluating the socio-technical frameworks against which the barriers have been categorized. Findings show that the greatest perceived barriers are the perception of the lack of resources to be devoted to improving Energy Efficiency, and the existence of other priorities such as the importance of guaranteeing business continuity. The study has also performed a preliminary analysis of the factors that might affect the perception of barriers. In particular, looking at size, smaller enterprises show a greater perception of the barriers than larger ones, mainly due to several organizational issues, but with effect on behavioural ones, that tend to downgrade Energy Efficiency to a peripheral issue. The study has also highlighted differences by type of alloy characterizing foundries, taken as proxy of the process complexity. Indeed, enterprises with simpler production processes tend to perceive higher barriers to Energy Efficiency, showing the need to identify effective means to promote Energy Efficiency among those enterprises. Moreover, the analysis has pointed out that performing Energy audits brings more awareness to the enterprises, highlighting the effective existing difficulties in improving their Energy Efficiency. This result seems to be relevant since it shows the need for the research to analyze the awareness to Energy Efficiency in greater depth and develop the most effective policies to increase it at Industrial level. Finally when looking at the country in which foundries operate, German enterprises tend to suffer from the barriers far less than the average, whilst a totally different behaviour can be observed for Swedish ones. These preliminary findings open the research to investigate in greater depth the factors leading to a different perception of barriers, and also the domestic policies that have led to those results. Moreover, the study opens to investigate which means, i.e. drivers, might be more effectively exploited at European level to promote Industrial Energy Efficiency.
Ernst Worrell - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Disentangling Industrial Energy Efficiency policy results in the Netherlands
Energy Efficiency, 2019Co-Authors: Christiaan Abeelen, Robert Harmsen, Ernst WorrellAbstract:Sound evaluation needs sound numbers. But measuring Energy savings is measuring something that is not used and can meet unexpected difficulties. The European Commission has made strong efforts to harmonize methods to measure Energy Efficiency and Energy savings and to monitor the progress towards the goals of the Energy Efficiency Directive. However, in practice, multiple methods are still used, which may lead to confusion. In this paper, we use the Netherlands as a case study to analyze this phenomenon. In the Netherlands, three national indicators on Energy Efficiency exist, next to a European indicator next to the impact of individual policy instruments. The large differences and sometimes contradictory results of the different indicators lead to questions about what is the “best” method. This paper studies the reasons behind the differences between the methods used for Industrial Energy Efficiency improvement in the Netherlands. It compares detailed bottom-up data from individual policy instruments with top-down national figures. We disentangle the impact of volume, Efficiency, and structure effects. In this way, we visualize the differences between several methods and the impact of the choice of metrics used in those methods. This helps understanding why care should be taken when comparing Industrial Energy Efficiency results from different countries.
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a novel approach for barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2013Co-Authors: E Cagno, Andrea Trianni, Ernst Worrell, G PuglieseAbstract:A critical review of the literature highlighted the need for a new taxonomy encompassing the most relevant barriers stemmed from previous studies, and accounting for interactions and independences of the barriers to avoid overlaps and implicit interactions. Based on an extensive literature review the paper provides a novel approach for barriers to the adoption of Industrial Energy-efficient technologies, coping with the issues risen by the review of the literature. We developed a taxonomy adaptable to empirical research, and able to evaluate the differences between perceived and real barriers, the effect of the barriers on decision-making processes, and the interactions among barriers. We modeled three types of interactions, i.e., causal relationship, composite effect and hidden effect, in order to start analyzing the dynamics among barriers, and tested the taxonomy in a preliminary investigation. The study proposes a useful instrument both to enterprises and policy-makers to identify critical factors to improve Industrial Energy Efficiency and to open the research to further investigation in this topic.
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The Next Frontier to Realize Industrial Energy Efficiency
2011Co-Authors: Ernst WorrellAbstract:Industry contributes directly and indirectly (through consumed electricity) about 37% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, of which over 80% is from Energy use. Total Energy-related emissions, which were 9.9 GtCO2 in 2004, have grown by 65% since 1971. In the near future, Energy Efficiency is potentially the most important and cost-effective means for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from industry. Despite the growth in Energy use, industry has almost continuously improved its Energy Efficiency over the past decades. Yet, climate change and other future challenges will drive a quest for further Energy-Efficiency improvement. Both improvements with which Industrial processes use Energy and materials are key to realize strong reductions Energy use. This paper discusses the potential contribution of Industrial Energy and material Efficiency technologies to reduce Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to 2030 and beyond, and ways to realize them.
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Productivity benefits of Industrial Energy Efficiency measures - eScholarship
2011Co-Authors: Ernst WorrellAbstract:We review the relationship between Energy Efficiency improvement measures and productivity in industry. We review over 70 Industrial case studies from widely available published databases, followed by an analysis of the representation of productivity benefits in Energy modeling. We propose a method to include productivity benefits in the economic assessment of the potential for Energy Efficiency improvement. The case-study review suggests that Energy Efficiency investments can provide a significant boost to overall productivity within industry. If this relationship holds, the description of Energy-efficient technologies as opportunities for larger productivity improvements has significant implications for conventional economic assessments. The paper explores the implications this change in perspective on the evaluation of Energy-efficient technologies for a study of the iron and steel industry in the US. This examination shows that including productivity benefits explicitly in the modeling parameters would double the cost-effective potential for Energy Efficiency improvement, compared to an analysis excluding those benefits. We provide suggestions for future research in this important area.
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Industrial Energy Efficiency and climate change mitigation
Energy Efficiency, 2008Co-Authors: Ernst Worrell, Joyashree Roy, Lenny Bernstein, Lynn Price, Jochen HarnischAbstract:Industry contributes directly and indirectly (through consumed electricity) about 37% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, of which over 80% is from Energy use. Total Energy-related emissions, which were 9.9 GtCO_2 in 2004, have grown by 65% since 1971. Even so, industry has almost continuously improved its Energy Efficiency over the past decades. In the near future, Energy Efficiency is potentially the most important and cost-effective means for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from industry. This paper discusses the potential contribution of Industrial Energy-Efficiency technologies and policies to reduce Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to 2030.
Kerui Du - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Industrial Energy Efficiency and driving forces behind Efficiency improvement evidence from the pearl river delta urban agglomeration in china
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019Co-Authors: Xiaoling Ouyang, Kerui DuAbstract:Abstract Improving Energy Efficiency of Industrial sectors is essential to achieve Energy conservation in the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration (PRDUA) in China. This study adopted stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to evaluate the Industrial total factor Energy Efficiency (TFEE) of nine cities in PRDUA during 2004–2016, and then to decompose the growth of TFEE into technical change (TC), technical Efficiency change (TEC), and economies of scale (SC) effects. Results show that the TFEE of Industrial sectors of PRDUA had an overall downward trend during the study period, and that technical change was the major driving force behind the growth of TFEE. The Tobit model was then adopted to further investigate the determinants of Energy Efficiency improvement and test the robustness of empirical results. The main contributions of this study to the existing literature lie in showing that (1) the degree of openness, local government spending, foreign direct investment, factor input structure, environmental regulation strength, and GDP per capita have positive impacts on the Industrial TFEE; (2) enterprise scale and Energy consumption structure have a negative impact on Industrial Energy Efficiency. Finally, we address policy implications for Energy management regarding their economic and environmental aspects in Industrial sectors of the PRDUA.
Simone Franzò - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A multi-stakeholder analysis of the economic Efficiency of Industrial Energy Efficiency policies: Empirical evidence from ten years of the Italian White Certificate Scheme
Applied Energy, 2019Co-Authors: Simone Franzò, Federico Frattini, Enrico Cagno, Andrea TrianniAbstract:Abstract There is growing interest worldwide in more effective policies to promote Industrial Energy Efficiency and mitigate climate change. The White Certificates Scheme is a market-based mechanism aimed at stimulating the adoption of Energy Efficiency Measures. The Italian White Certificates scheme - one of the most long-standing and articulated - is a successful example of Industrial Energy Efficiency policies, considered an interesting and remarkable case by other countries, especially due to its robustness in terms of the volume of certificates traded. Despite the considerable interest in White Certificates, an in-depth analysis of the economic Efficiency of the mechanism from the perspective of different stakeholders is still lacking. To address this gap, this study develops a cost-benefit evaluation framework and a multi-stakeholder economic Efficiency analysis of the Italian White Certificates scheme focusing on the Italian State, utilities, players in the Energy Efficiency value chain, and Energy users. Our findings (also corroborated with sensitivity analyses) show that the White Certificates Scheme has led to several positive impacts for almost all stakeholders involved, with the exception of Energy utilities that have suffered a major economic loss mainly due to a reduction of Energy sold to end users. Such loss is likely to promote a deep change in the role of utilities in the Energy market in terms of the services they offer and their business models. Our findings, in addition to providing useful directions for future research, offer interesting insights and implications for policymakers who may take inspiration from the pros and cons of the Italian White Certificates scheme when promoting Energy Efficiency through incentive mechanisms.
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Overcoming internal barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency through Energy audit: a case study of a large manufacturing company in the home appliances industry
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2017Co-Authors: Davide Chiaroni, Vittorio Chiesa, Simone Franzò, Federico Frattini, Vito Manfredi LatillaAbstract:Energy Efficiency plays a key role in reducing global Energy consumption, especially in the Industrial sector, with an indirect positive impact on the competitiveness of Industrial firms. Although a cultural shift toward recognizing the strategic importance of Energy efficient and environmental friendly solutions is diffusing among Industrial companies, also pushed by the evolution of local and international regulatory frameworks, strong barriers hampering the adoption of Energy Efficiency measures (EEMs) still exist. These barriers, and in particular those linked to behavioral issues, may be overcome by the use of a well-designed Energy audit methodology. However, how Energy audit can help overcome behavioral barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency remains an under-researched topic in literature. This paper presents and discusses a novel methodology for Energy audit developed and implemented by a large manufacturing company. The methodology is built around four phases, and it pays special emphasis to the initial step of the audit, where the strongest resistance to the implementation of EEMs is typically found due to a lack of awareness and commitment which hampers the identification of needs and opportunities associated with the adoption of EEMs. The proposed methodology has been able to overcome in practice the typical behavioral barriers that affect the implementation of EEMs in the manufacturing sector and has strong applicability in other firms and industries.
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introducing a new perspective for the economic evaluation of Industrial Energy Efficiency technologies an empirical analysis in italy
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 2016Co-Authors: Davide Chiaroni, Vittorio Chiesa, Simone Franzò, Federico Frattini, Marco Chiesa, Giovanni TolettiAbstract:Abstract An empirical analysis involving 130 Italian Industrial firms showed that the economic viability of investments in Energy Efficiency technologies is mostly evaluated through indicators such as Pay-Back Time (PBT) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), whose acceptability thresholds are affected by decision makers’ risk propensity and other contingencies, such as the firm’s financial health. Our analysis suggests that these evaluation approaches hinder the adoption of several Energy Efficiency technologies, such as combined heat and power (CHP) plants, electric motors, variable speed drives (VSD), uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which are in fact economically viable if analyzed from a life cycle cost perspective, but appear to be unsustainable if analyzed through PBT or IRR indicators. This paper addresses this issue by introducing a new evaluation perspective for investments in Industrial Energy Efficiency technologies. Inspired by the life cycle economic assessment methodology for Energy production plants – the so-called Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) – our indicator, called Levelized Energy Efficiency Cost (LEEC), correlates the Energy savings that can be achieved through the implementation of an Energy Efficiency technology and the total costs incurred throughout the entire life cycle of the technology, e.g., initial investments, Operation & Maintenance (O&M), disposal costs. Accordingly, a technology can be considered as economically viable if the LEEC is lower than the Energy price incurred by the firm, because in this case the economic benefits resulting from the Energy saving due to the adoption of the technology is higher than the cost paid to obtain and operate it during its entire life cycle. The application of such methodology in different Italian Energy-intensive Industrial sectors (e.g., automotive, cement, iron & steel and pulp & paper) shows that most of the considered technologies are economically viable, from the life cycle perspective on which this methodology is grounded. Therefore we suggest that the LEEC is a clear and simple tool for companies’ decision makers to evaluate Energy Efficiency projects, to be used in combination with more traditional PBT or IRR indicators to gain a better understanding of the real economic viability of Energy Efficiency technologies.