- Email: [email protected]
01474 Energy efficiency — a critical view
16 Energy (energy conservation) 06/01471
The prosperous way down
Odum, H. T. and Odum, E. C. Energy, 2006, 31, (1), 21 32. Principles that appear to govern all systems including human societies were used to consider the time of economic descent ahead. These include the energy laws, the emergy concept, the maximum empower principle, the universal energy hierarchy, the conservation and hierarchical distribution of materials, the spatial organization of centres, and the pulsing paradigm. Population and cities, energy consumption and climate change, agriculture and environment, information and electric power, capitalism and economic policies, structures and materials, human life and standard of living are dealt with in this paper as interconnected aspects of the same problem, i.e. the necessary descent phase of human economies, due to decreasing resource base. Much is expected of the resource use, culture and public policy appropriate for the growth period to be replaced with a new set of ethics and policies affecting each scale of time and space during descent. Decisive changes in attitudes and practices can divert a destructive collapse, leading instead to a prosperous way down.
06/01472 Tradable certificates for renewable electricity and energy savings Bertoldi, P. and Huld, T. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 212 222. Tradable green certificates (TGCs) schemes have been developed and tested in several European countries to foster market-driven penetration of renewables. These certificates guarantee that a specific volume of electricity is generated from renewable-energy source (RES). More recently certificates (tradable white certificates (TWCs)) for the electricity saved by demand-side energy-efficiency measures (EEMs) have been introduced in some European countries. Recent advances in information and communication technology have opened up new possibilities for improving energy efficiency and increasing utilization of RESs. Use of technological resources such as the Internet and smart metering can permit real-time issuing and trading of TGCs. These technologies could also permit issuing of TWC. This paper reviews current renewable TGC and TWCs schemes in Europe and describes the possibilities for combining them in an Internet-based system. In the proposed combined tradable certificate scheme, both RESs and demand-side EEMs could bid in real time through the Internet to meet a specific obligation. The energy savings from the demand-side measures would be equivalent to the same amount of green electricity production. The paper describes the needed common targets and obligations, the certificate trading rules and the possible monitoring protocol. In particular, the paper focuses on the TWCs verification issues, including the assessment of the baseline, as these poses additional problems for TWCs compared to TGCs.
Energy conservation 06/01473 process
A heat pump in a countercurrent crystallization
Al-Harahsheh, A. M. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2005, 25, (4), 545 555. Recently industrial heat pumps are being used as important heat recovery equipment that can facilitate energy savings in various chemical processes, like distillation, evaporation, and absorption. One of the prospective processes for the use of heat pumps is in various crystallization processes, where usually two different cooling and heating zones are present. This work presents a study of the possibility to reduce the consumption of energy in countercurrent crystallization process, which is usually used to separate organic compounds from their mixture, by introducing a heat pump with external medium (refrigeration cycle) to the process. Focus is made on a refrigeration cycle in which ammonia is used as refrigerant. Calculation for the proposed heat pump is performed. A dimensionless energy saving factor is introduced. The saving factor assumes the value of zero for conventional system. An economic analysis is made and a noticeable save in energy ranging from 34% to 45% was obtained. The effect of the feed temperature and concentration on obtained saving energy factor were investigated. 06•01474
Energy efficiency - a critical view
Herring, H. Energy, 2006, 31, (1), 10 20. This paper challenges the view that improving the efficiency of energy use will lead to a reduction in national energy consumption, and hence is an effective policy for reducing national CO2 emissions. It argues that improving energy efficiency lowers the implicit price of energy and hence make its use more affordable, thus leading to greater use an effect termed the 'rebound' or 'takeback' effect. The paper presents the views of economists, as well as green critics of 'the gospel of efficiency'. The paper argues that a more effective CO2 policy is to concentrate on
218
Fuel and Energy Abstracts
May 2006
shifting to non-fossil fuels, like renewables, subsidized through a carbon tax. Ultimately what is needed, to limit energy consumption, is energy sufficiency (or conservation) rather than energy efficiency.
06/01475 From motivation and cognition theories to everyday applications and back again: the case of productintegrated information and feedback McCalley, L. T. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 129 137. Various moderators of the relationship of goal setting and feedback are explored in four examples of applied empirical research. A selection of theoretical frameworks adapted from varied disciplines guided the studies and are discussed in terms of their value to the particular questions investigated. The experiments all entailed the use of productintegrated energy feedback and illustrate a progressive understanding of how goals, feedback and other information provided to the user can generate or support better energy conservation. Experiment 1 exemplifies the successful use of combining goal setting and feedback, and provides a basic understanding of the interaction from the perspectives of goal setting theory and feedback intervention theory (FIT). Experiment 2 compares FIT to another, fundamentally different, cognitive framework, and the minimal justification principle. The study gives insight into how goals and feedback work through attention focus and the goal hierarchy to guide behaviour, the role of attitude in this process, and offers evidence that FIT better accounts for task specific conservation behaviour. Experiment 3 addresses the role of goals and information in strategy planning through the perspective of goal setting theory. Results of this study suggest the need for more development of the basic theory and illustrate the strong motivational properties of having a goal. Experiment 4 investigates a more fundamental process, anchoring bias, taken from decision theory and the theory of rational choice. This experiment was based again on FIT and provided further evidence of behavioural control through the focus of attention at a particular level of the goal hierarchy. Findings are discussed in terms of potential energy savings and policy development impact.
06/01476 From volatility to value: analysing and managing financial and performance risk in energy savings projects Mills, E. et al. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 188 199. Many energy-related investments are made without a clear financial understanding of their values, risks, and volatilities. In the face of this uncertainty, the investor such as a building owner or an energy service company will often choose to implement only the most certain and thus limited energy-efficiency measures. Conversely, commodities traders and other sophisticated investors accustomed to evaluating investments on a value, risk, and volatility basis often overlook energyefficiency investments because risk and volatility information are not provided. Fortunately, energy-efficiency investments easily lend themselves to such analysis using tools similar to those applied to supply side risk management. Accurate and robust analysis demands a high level of understanding of the physical aspects of energy-efficiency, which enables the translation of physical performance data into the language of investment. With a risk management analysis framework in place, the two groups energy-efficiency experts and investment decision-makers can exchange the information they need to expand investment in demand-side energy projects. Here the case for financial risk analysis in energy efficiency in the buildings sector is presented, with descriptions of techniques and examples of how to identify, quantify, and manage risk. Finally, emerging market-based opportunities in risk management for energy efficiency are discussed.
06/01477 saving
Reshaping markets for the benefit of energy
Perrels, A. et al. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 121 128. Energy saving is an important option for preventing emission of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, when energy saving is reducing the spatial and temporal density of energy consumption, it supports a rising market share of renewable energy sources. Last but not the least, energy saving plays a role in reducing the vulnerability for import dependency and supply disruptions. Despite these virtues energy saving and energy efficiency, being typically demand side options, appear to be harder to 'sell' than the other options which focus on the supply side. The currently prevailing market-based approach in energy policy initially brought setbacks for energy saving. The introductory article and the selected contributions to this special issue intend to show that markets can and should be shaped to the benefit of the uptake and of the potential of energy saving. To this end, all elements of the energy efficiency delivery context should be addressed in energy-saving policies. Learning, measurement and observation are important tools in this reshaping process.
The prosperous way down
Odum, H. T. and Odum, E. C. Energy, 2006, 31, (1), 21 32. Principles that appear to govern all systems including human societies were used to consider the time of economic descent ahead. These include the energy laws, the emergy concept, the maximum empower principle, the universal energy hierarchy, the conservation and hierarchical distribution of materials, the spatial organization of centres, and the pulsing paradigm. Population and cities, energy consumption and climate change, agriculture and environment, information and electric power, capitalism and economic policies, structures and materials, human life and standard of living are dealt with in this paper as interconnected aspects of the same problem, i.e. the necessary descent phase of human economies, due to decreasing resource base. Much is expected of the resource use, culture and public policy appropriate for the growth period to be replaced with a new set of ethics and policies affecting each scale of time and space during descent. Decisive changes in attitudes and practices can divert a destructive collapse, leading instead to a prosperous way down.
06/01472 Tradable certificates for renewable electricity and energy savings Bertoldi, P. and Huld, T. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 212 222. Tradable green certificates (TGCs) schemes have been developed and tested in several European countries to foster market-driven penetration of renewables. These certificates guarantee that a specific volume of electricity is generated from renewable-energy source (RES). More recently certificates (tradable white certificates (TWCs)) for the electricity saved by demand-side energy-efficiency measures (EEMs) have been introduced in some European countries. Recent advances in information and communication technology have opened up new possibilities for improving energy efficiency and increasing utilization of RESs. Use of technological resources such as the Internet and smart metering can permit real-time issuing and trading of TGCs. These technologies could also permit issuing of TWC. This paper reviews current renewable TGC and TWCs schemes in Europe and describes the possibilities for combining them in an Internet-based system. In the proposed combined tradable certificate scheme, both RESs and demand-side EEMs could bid in real time through the Internet to meet a specific obligation. The energy savings from the demand-side measures would be equivalent to the same amount of green electricity production. The paper describes the needed common targets and obligations, the certificate trading rules and the possible monitoring protocol. In particular, the paper focuses on the TWCs verification issues, including the assessment of the baseline, as these poses additional problems for TWCs compared to TGCs.
Energy conservation 06/01473 process
A heat pump in a countercurrent crystallization
Al-Harahsheh, A. M. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2005, 25, (4), 545 555. Recently industrial heat pumps are being used as important heat recovery equipment that can facilitate energy savings in various chemical processes, like distillation, evaporation, and absorption. One of the prospective processes for the use of heat pumps is in various crystallization processes, where usually two different cooling and heating zones are present. This work presents a study of the possibility to reduce the consumption of energy in countercurrent crystallization process, which is usually used to separate organic compounds from their mixture, by introducing a heat pump with external medium (refrigeration cycle) to the process. Focus is made on a refrigeration cycle in which ammonia is used as refrigerant. Calculation for the proposed heat pump is performed. A dimensionless energy saving factor is introduced. The saving factor assumes the value of zero for conventional system. An economic analysis is made and a noticeable save in energy ranging from 34% to 45% was obtained. The effect of the feed temperature and concentration on obtained saving energy factor were investigated. 06•01474
Energy efficiency - a critical view
Herring, H. Energy, 2006, 31, (1), 10 20. This paper challenges the view that improving the efficiency of energy use will lead to a reduction in national energy consumption, and hence is an effective policy for reducing national CO2 emissions. It argues that improving energy efficiency lowers the implicit price of energy and hence make its use more affordable, thus leading to greater use an effect termed the 'rebound' or 'takeback' effect. The paper presents the views of economists, as well as green critics of 'the gospel of efficiency'. The paper argues that a more effective CO2 policy is to concentrate on
218
Fuel and Energy Abstracts
May 2006
shifting to non-fossil fuels, like renewables, subsidized through a carbon tax. Ultimately what is needed, to limit energy consumption, is energy sufficiency (or conservation) rather than energy efficiency.
06/01475 From motivation and cognition theories to everyday applications and back again: the case of productintegrated information and feedback McCalley, L. T. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 129 137. Various moderators of the relationship of goal setting and feedback are explored in four examples of applied empirical research. A selection of theoretical frameworks adapted from varied disciplines guided the studies and are discussed in terms of their value to the particular questions investigated. The experiments all entailed the use of productintegrated energy feedback and illustrate a progressive understanding of how goals, feedback and other information provided to the user can generate or support better energy conservation. Experiment 1 exemplifies the successful use of combining goal setting and feedback, and provides a basic understanding of the interaction from the perspectives of goal setting theory and feedback intervention theory (FIT). Experiment 2 compares FIT to another, fundamentally different, cognitive framework, and the minimal justification principle. The study gives insight into how goals and feedback work through attention focus and the goal hierarchy to guide behaviour, the role of attitude in this process, and offers evidence that FIT better accounts for task specific conservation behaviour. Experiment 3 addresses the role of goals and information in strategy planning through the perspective of goal setting theory. Results of this study suggest the need for more development of the basic theory and illustrate the strong motivational properties of having a goal. Experiment 4 investigates a more fundamental process, anchoring bias, taken from decision theory and the theory of rational choice. This experiment was based again on FIT and provided further evidence of behavioural control through the focus of attention at a particular level of the goal hierarchy. Findings are discussed in terms of potential energy savings and policy development impact.
06/01476 From volatility to value: analysing and managing financial and performance risk in energy savings projects Mills, E. et al. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 188 199. Many energy-related investments are made without a clear financial understanding of their values, risks, and volatilities. In the face of this uncertainty, the investor such as a building owner or an energy service company will often choose to implement only the most certain and thus limited energy-efficiency measures. Conversely, commodities traders and other sophisticated investors accustomed to evaluating investments on a value, risk, and volatility basis often overlook energyefficiency investments because risk and volatility information are not provided. Fortunately, energy-efficiency investments easily lend themselves to such analysis using tools similar to those applied to supply side risk management. Accurate and robust analysis demands a high level of understanding of the physical aspects of energy-efficiency, which enables the translation of physical performance data into the language of investment. With a risk management analysis framework in place, the two groups energy-efficiency experts and investment decision-makers can exchange the information they need to expand investment in demand-side energy projects. Here the case for financial risk analysis in energy efficiency in the buildings sector is presented, with descriptions of techniques and examples of how to identify, quantify, and manage risk. Finally, emerging market-based opportunities in risk management for energy efficiency are discussed.
06/01477 saving
Reshaping markets for the benefit of energy
Perrels, A. et al. Energy Policy, 2006, 34, (2), 121 128. Energy saving is an important option for preventing emission of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, when energy saving is reducing the spatial and temporal density of energy consumption, it supports a rising market share of renewable energy sources. Last but not the least, energy saving plays a role in reducing the vulnerability for import dependency and supply disruptions. Despite these virtues energy saving and energy efficiency, being typically demand side options, appear to be harder to 'sell' than the other options which focus on the supply side. The currently prevailing market-based approach in energy policy initially brought setbacks for energy saving. The introductory article and the selected contributions to this special issue intend to show that markets can and should be shaped to the benefit of the uptake and of the potential of energy saving. To this end, all elements of the energy efficiency delivery context should be addressed in energy-saving policies. Learning, measurement and observation are important tools in this reshaping process.