How 10 key energy efficiency actions could save industry $437bn – report
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According to the Energy Efficiency Movement, energy efficiency actions, such as the use of smart building energy management systems, switching to EV fleets and using heat pumps, can result in global cost savings of approximately $437 billion.
According to the Movement – a global forum of more than 400 organisations, such as Switzerland’s ABB, Sweden’s Alfa Laval, and Microsoft – these are three of 10 key energy efficiency actions which, when applied across industry, have the potential to reduce global carbon emissions by 11% to 2030. This is the equivalent of 4 gigatonnes, with potential annual cost savings of $437 billion.
This is one of the findings highlighted in the Movement’s report The Case for Industrial Energy Efficiency, which outlines energy efficiency actions across three strategic pillars: driving efficiency returns, gaining efficiency insights and building an efficiency foundation.
Specifically, the recommended 10 key energy efficiency actions include:
Drive efficiency returns
Install high-efficiency motors
According to the report, within industrial enterprises around two-thirds of electricity consumption likely relates to powering motors in pumps, fans, compressors and other equipment.
The report adds how, if the 300 million-plus industrial electric motor-driven systems operating today were replaced with optimised, high-efficiency versions, worldwide electricity consumption could be cut by up to 10%.
The Energy Efficiency Movement also states how global commercial and industrial sectors could save up to $68.8 billion a year by 2030 from improved motor efficiency and reduced electricity use.
Use variable speed drives
The report finds that less than a third of industrial drives have variable speeds that adjust the power consumption, and emissions, to the load required. This level could be roughly doubled in most industrial settings, cutting electricity costs and emissions while saving on maintenance and reducing downtime by helping the drives last longer.
Electrify industrial vehicle fleets
According to the report, at fleet level, electric vehicles (EVs) can cut emissions by about 17% on traditional grids and 30% on electricity from mostly renewable sources.
By 2050, the reduction in emissions could amount to 70% under a decarbonised grid scenario.
Maintain efficient heat exchangers
According to the Energy Efficiency Movement, heat exchangers, used widely in building heating and air conditioning, refrigeration, and data centre and fuel cell cooling, are rarely maintained adequately.
This lack of maintenance, according to the report, could account for up to 2.5% of global carbon emissions – roughly the equivalent of the entire airline industry. And new heat exchangers can be up to 25% more efficient than old ones.
Switch to heat pumps
According to the report, heat pumps are extremely efficient, effectively giving back more energy than put in to operate them.
In time, they state, it is likely that all low-temperature and many mid-temperature industrial applications, such as drying and ethylene processing, will use heat pumps.
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Gain efficiency insights
Deploy smart building management systems
According to modelling by the Energy Efficiency Movement, widespread use of building management systems (BMS) could yield annual electricity savings of between 994TWh and 1.5PWh a year by 2030, while cutting annual gas use by 126 to 252TWh.
This could deliver between 593 and 901 MtCO2 emissions savings a year. Taking a mid-point estimate, this could create almost 3.5 gigatons of savings between 2024 and 2030.
A BMS, states the report, can control up to around 70% of a building’s energy load if lighting is included as well.
Combining AI with a digital BMS can cut HVAC emissions by as much as 40% and reduce energy costs by 25%.
A smart BMS can also save substantial proportions of a building’s energy use costs through detection, diagnostic, historical analysis and predictive capabilities.
For example, states the report, the deployment of smart BMS in a facility in Bengaluru, India, resulted in building operational and management cost savings of up to 10% and a 19% saving in energy management costs. The deployment of smart BMS also resulted in emissions savings of up to 34%.
Move data to the cloud
According to the report, there are at least three reasons cloud data centre operators will tend to have greater efficiency savings.
Cloud computing and co-location facilities usually operate at a much higher level of efficiency compared to smaller, on-premises servers.
Energy use accounts for a significant percentage of a cloud operator’s overall operating expenses, so there is a strong financial incentive to optimize the operational efficiency of IT equipment.
Advanced infrastructure technologies in hyperscale data centres reduce the energy for lighting and cooling the facility.
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Building an efficiency foundation
Audit operations for energy efficiency
According to the report, most industrial enterprises waste large amounts of energy, yet they do not know it. Oversized machines, assets on standby and poorly maintained hardware all contribute to ghost loads that use power without any useful output.
The only way to locate these loads is to carry out an audit.
Usually undertaken by an established energy service company, an audit will give a baseline against which to measure progress on efficiency, as well as potentially contributing to broader aims such as the achievement of ISO 50001 certification.
Audits should be repeated at regular intervals and if accompanied by a sensor deployment programme can lead to continuous monitoring of energy use across the enterprise, allowing savings to be achieved in real time.
Right-size industrial assets and processes
According to the Movement, most industrial assets tend to be oversized for a range of reasons, such as building in safety margins or allowing processes to cope with peaks in demand. The extent to which this oversizing is useful varies greatly from one industrial enterprise to another, however.
While there are no hard-and-fast rules about the level of energy and emissions reductions that can be achieved through right-sizing equipment, states the report, the improvements can be significant.
The report cites an example of a company that was able to remove an entire packaging line, saving $1 million a year.
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Bring connectivity to physical assets
Despite the significant benefits that can be achieved by integrating industrial assets into an Internet of Things (IoT) network, ABB survey data, cited within the report, indicates that only 35% of enterprises have so far undertaken industrial digitisation programmes at scale.
Such programmes could help reduce industrial energy use by between 10% and 30%, based on estimations from organisations such as McKinsey & Company and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
The Energy Efficiency Movement estimates that bringing connectivity to currently unconnected industrial assets could save 10% of their electricity and 5% of their natural gas consumption under a low-efficiency scenario, and 22% and 11%, respectively, in a higher growth outlook.
“Ahead of COP28, it is important to demonstrate that there are mature and concrete technology solutions readily available to address the global warming issues we are facing,” said Tarak Mehta, president, Motion business area at ABB.
“Since renewables can only provide a part of the answer, the critical role energy efficiency plays in accelerating the energy transition toward reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 is undeniable. The urgency is for the private sector to act now.
“This new report is designed to help speed the adoption of best practices by showing businesses how to realise the full potential of environmental and financial benefits.”
