Implementation of energy efficiency projects by Dutch industry

As potentials for energy savings are huge, industry can provide a major contribution to energy savings goals. This paper focuses on the energy savings realized under the Dutch voluntary agreements in the period 2001–2011. Participants in these schemes are obliged to plan and implement all measures with a payback period of less than 5 years. This paper shows how many of these projects have been implemented and how much savings they generate. Our findings show that large differences exist in the realized savings between individual companies. There is however no significant difference in savings observed between companies that participate in the Emission Trading System (ETS) and companies that do not. Although it is impossible to disentangle the drivers behind the implementation of these projects, the amount of savings suggest that at least part of them was implemented because of different energy policy instruments.     

The economic value of energy-saving investments by commercial and industrial firms

Federal law and state regulation promote the installation of energy-saving equipment by commercial and industrial firms. We estimate the reduction in energy consumption that a sample of firms obtained from such installations and compare the value of these savings, both privately and socially, with the cost of the installations. With correction for self-selection bias, the investments are found to offer favorable rates of return to the firms and, for social values of energy savings exceeding 1 c̵kWhr, to be socially beneficial.     

提高换热器性能,为工业炉窑节能服务

用换热器回收工业炉窑的烟气余热,既可节约燃耗,又可提高炉窑产量。综合传热系数和系统内气体流动阻力损失是评价换热器性能的重要指标。文中较详细地讨论了提高换热器综合传热系数的各种措施,还讨论了完善现有换热器和开发新型换热器等问题。     

Sustainability assessment of the energy projects implementation in regional scale

The concept of sustainable energy development cannot be separated from the understanding of additional positive socio-economic effect of sustainable energy projects (energy efficiency measures, use of renewable energy sources). Implementation of sustainable energy projects has positive impact on security of energy supply, provides financial economies and improved comfort and has multiplier effect for new jobs, involving small and medium size enterprises. Therefore integration of sustainable energy projects into regional development process may create external positive effect concerning increased energy security and other regional development goals (reduction of unemployment, reduction of environmental impact, etc.). The examples of EU-15 countries implementing their sustainable energy development and climate change mitigation policies on local level can be successfully applied in Lithuania. The aim of the article is to discuss methodological problems related with integration of sustainable energy projects into regional development procedures and provide guidelines, ensuring that energy elements may compile integral uniformity in terms of regional goals.     

Divide and rule. The economic and legal implications of the proposed ownership unbundling of distribution and supply companies in the Dutch electricity sector

In Machiavelli's theory of power, the concept of ‘divide and rule’ forms the main theme: the ruler has absolute power and to maintain and increase such power all means are justified. When viewed against the background of this theory, the current debate in the Netherlands on the unbundling of energy (electricity, gas) companies can be observed as an example of ‘divide and rule’, in which the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs plays a central role. Yet, contrary to Machiavelli in his time, the Dutch government does, in fact, aim principally at the greater welfare of the Dutch people. It is therefore noteworthy that, while important steps in the decision to unbundled have been taken, there is no evidence that the Dutch people will indeed benefit from the envisaged unbundling.     

Engineering estimates versus impact evaluation of energy efficiency projects: Regression discontinuity evidence from a case study

Energy efficiency upgrades have been gaining widespread attention across global channels as a cost-effective approach to addressing energy challenges. The cost-effectiveness of these projects is generally predicted using engineering estimates pre-implementation, often with little ex post analysis of project success. In this paper, for a suite of energy efficiency projects, we directly compare ex ante engineering estimates of energy savings to ex post econometric estimates that use 15-min interval, building-level energy consumption data. In contrast to most prior literature, our econometric results confirm the engineering estimates, even suggesting the engineering estimates were too modest. Further, we find heterogeneous efficiency impacts by time of day, suggesting select efficiency projects can be useful in reducing peak load.     

Encouraging the implementation of small renewable electricity CDM projects: An economic analysis of different options

Apart from contributing to the mitigation of GHG emissions, the deployment of renewable electricity Clean Development Mechanism projects (RE-CDM) may provide substantial local economic, social and environmental sustainability benefits to host countries. However, in spite of these advantages, a wide array of barriers prevents the realisation of these projects. They compete with other CDM options which lead to cheaper GHG emissions reductions but which do not provide as much opportunities for sustainable development in developing countries. Taking into account that, in contrast to GHG benefits, sustainability benefits are not valued in the market place and that article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol envisages two objectives for the CDM (cost-effective emissions reductions and contribution to sustainability), this market mechanism might be leading to a “market failure” in RE-CDM projects. This paper explores the different barriers affecting the implementation of RE-CDM projects and proposes and analyses several policies and measures that could be implemented to encourage their deployment by tackling those obstacles.     

工业锅炉及窑炉节能减排技术途径与关键问题分析

当前我国的燃煤工业锅炉、窑炉普遍存在技术落后、效率低下、污染严重、监管难度大等问题,节能潜力超过1亿t煤,是煤炭节能减排技术的重点。实现工业炉窑燃煤节能是一个系统工程,关键是依靠燃煤技术和运行控制技术的进步,法规政策的促进和保障作用,社会化服务有助于推动新技术发展,先进的节能技术必会带来可观的经济和社会效益。     

热水维温加热计算及节能分析

本文就利用热水进行油罐维温加热工艺计算进行了探讨,说明可以充分利用热水资源,节省蒸汽,降低油品粘度,从而达到节能的目的。     

Divorce comes at a price: An ex ante welfare analysis of ownership unbundling of the distribution and commercial companies in the Dutch energy sector

Vertical unbundling in the electricity sector is a hot political topic in the European Union. The European Commission has decided that the ownership unbundling of transmission networks from other stages in the value chain is the most effective way to ensure fair network access and infrastructure investment. While this European unbundling debate has not ended yet and most countries still do not have an independent transmission system operator (TSO), the Dutch government has already taken one step further. In 2008, it decided that distribution companies should be completely separated from commercial activities that are part of the same holding (generation, trade and supply). This governmental decision has been fiercely debated. Although the goal is to improve competition as well as security of supply, these benefits are uncertain. Nevertheless, it is certain that ownership unbundling comes at a cost. In this paper we present an ex ante cost-benefit analysis of the Dutch unbundling act. We conclude that it is unlikely that this act is welfare enhancing: divorce comes at a price.     

Explaining the rapid diffusion of Dutch cogeneration by innovation system functioning

In this paper, we apply the functions of innovation systems theory to explain the successful diffusion of cogeneration technology in The Netherlands. We show that the technological innovation system for cogeneration functioned very well and that this explains for a major part the successful diffusion. We also show that the innovation system was positively influenced by actions of the Dutch government. Government actions were aligned to the needs of the other parties in the innovation system. Finally, we show that part of the successful diffusion can be attributed to changes in the institutional environment that were not intended to stimulate cogeneration.     

Production of butanol and polyhydroxyalkanoate from industrial waste by Clostridium beijerinckii ASU10

This study demonstrated a biotechnological approach for simultaneous production of low‐cost H₂, liquid biofuels, and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) by solventogenic bacterium (Clostridium beijerinckii) from renewable industrial wastes such as molasses and crude glycerol. C beijerinckii ASU10 (KF372577) exhibited considerable performance for hydrogen production of 5.1 ± 0.84 and 11 ± 0.44 mL H₂ h^?1 on glycerol and sugarcane molasses, respectively. The total acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) generation from glycerol and molasses was 9.334 ± 2.98 and 10.831 ± 4.1 g L^?1, respectively. ABE productivity (g L^?1 h^?1) was 0.0486 and 0.0564 with a yield rate (g g^?1) up to 0.508 and 0.493 from glycerol and molasses fermentation, respectively. The PHA yields from glycerol and sugarcane molasses were 84.37% and 37.97% of the dried bacterial biomass, respectively. Additionally, the ultrathin section of C beijerinckii ASU10 showed that PHA granules were accumulated more densely on glycerol than molasses. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis confirmed that the PHAs obtained from molasses fermentation included 3‐hydroxybutyrate (47.3%) and 3‐hydroxyoctanoate (52.7%) as the main constituents. Meanwhile, 3‐hydroxybutyrate represented the sole monomer of PHA produced from glycerol fermentation. This study demonstrated that C beijerinckii ASU10 (KF372577) is a potent strain for low‐cost PHA production depending on its high potential to produce high‐energy biofuel and other valuable compounds from utilization of organic waste materials.     

Pass-through of the policy-induced E85 subsidy: Insights from Hotelling's model

We build a structural model of imperfect competition for a retail market that supplies both low-ethanol (E10) and high-ethanol (E85) gasoline blends. The model permits us to study some impacts of the E85 subsidy induced by the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, specifically how the pass-through of this subsidy to retail prices is affected by market power. The model is rooted in Hotelling's horizontal differentiation framework, which is extended to also represent the imperfect substitutability between E10 and E85 (a vertical product differentiation attribute). The model naturally captures two sources of imperfect competition in the fuel market—refueling stations' market power arising from their spatial location, and limited availability of E85 stations. We derive both analytical and numerical solutions for Nash equilibrium outcomes under various scenarios. In our baseline parameterization, when the penetration of E85 stations is incomplete, we find that the pass-through rate is about 0.7. Complete penetration of E85 stations leads to near complete pass-through, notwithstanding the market power enjoyed by stations because of their spatial location. With monopolistic market power (e.g., collusion), however, with full penetration of E85 stations the pass-through rate is lower. Moreover, when market power only arises from location differentiation (duopoly model with full penetration of E85), the pass-through rate converges to one as the subsidy gets large, whereas it converges to zero if a station has exclusivity in selling E85 (partial penetration of E85) or there is collusion/monopoly power from collusion.     

Energy recovery from industrial waste of a confectionery plant by means of BIGFC plant

The search of environment friendly solutions for waste management, along with increasing costs and recent regulations on waste disposal, leads toward the recovery of energy and requires research activities related to plant definition and thermo-economic comparison. On the other hand, energy recovery from waste has never been an easy task. The high pollutant level in waste combustion gases requires low maximum temperatures in thermodynamic cycles thus affecting the efficiency of the “heat to electricity” conversion process. The recent progress of high temperature fuel cells seems to bring a significant change in this scenario, thanks to the feasible combination with advanced gasification systems. A thermo-economic comparison of different solutions for energy recovery from industrial waste is reported, considering an advanced dual bed gasification-MCFC integrated plant. The solution has been applied to a confectionery plant. Even if this system seems to promise high thermodynamic efficiency, a lot of effort in research is necessary for technical analysis of the advanced plant open issues and for the thermo-economic evaluation of potential advantage over consolidated systems. The thermodynamic analysis has been conducted interfacing Aspen⁺ flowsheets developed with the integration of a proprietary numerical code. The definition of a complex plan of costs would have been presumptuous at this stage of the development; therefore, a reverse economic approach has been used and is suggested by the authors; a specific solver has been implemented for this purpose. An extensive survey of the confectionary plant has been conducted considering the present energy system, the current supplies, and the trends of the required energy needs. The results show that the proposed advanced energy system can represent a valid solution for both industrial waste management and for integration in energy supply.     

Emission of trace elements from coal-fired industrial boilers. A survey of relevant literature

Present evidence is not sufficient for an evaluation of the hazard, if any, that might be caused by trace elements as a result of the increasing industrial market for coal. Measurements are reported for large pulverized fuel plant and small experimental, fluidized bed combustion rigs but there are hardly any data relating to industrial boilers. Present data are too inconsistent to permit generalized conclusions. Methods of sampling, sample preparation and analysis are assessed and those most suitable for a comparison of emissions from fluidized bed and stoker fired boilers are indicated.     

Drivers and barriers for the large-scale adoption of hydrogen fuel cells by Nordic shipping companies

The shipping industry needs to transition towards new fuels and technologies to reduce its environmental impact. A promising option is using hydrogen fuel cells. However, the technology is relatively new and not commercially available at a large scale. This study focuses on the Nordic shipping industry where the first commercial vessels are expected to be launched. Interviews were conducted with high-level managers to identify the factors that influence the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells. Sixteen factors are identified as motivating the decision and are categorized as internal, connecting, and external drivers. The most relevant are environmental commitments, customer expectations, and policies and regulations. Eleven factors are identified as limiting the decision and are categorized as behavioral, economic, organizational, and technological barriers. The most significant are high costs, lack of infrastructure, and operational challenges. The drivers and barriers are categorized as company-specific, industry-specific, and technology-specific.     

State-of-the-art in the industrial implementation of protective relay functions,communication mechanism and synchronized phasor capabilities for electric power systems protection

Protective systems in electricity delivery networks have a major role to play in the increasing of renewable energy systems, and a broad understanding of their current a future application can aid into better taking them into account for achieving future energy networks that adapt for the incorporation of renewable energy generation sources. This paper provides a survey in the state of the art of protective relaying technology and its associated communications technology used in today's power transmission systems. The paper also provides the fundamental knowledge concerned with power system relaying communications. The unifying theme of this paper is to highlight that the future potential of these devices lies in realizing the possibility of going beyond their traditional application as stand-alone equipments with the single role of acting “the last line of defense” so that they can be handled with the increment of renewable energy power delivery systems in near future.