There are always two drivers for a company to invest in energy efficiency: One is the economic impact of doing so; whether the industry is refining, chemical, power generation, transportation or any other, energy is a significant variable cost and there are always savings to go after.
The second is the reputation benefit – the social imperative of being greener in all aspects of operation. It sounds as though both of these have just become a high priority for Brit. While it isn’t clear how many facilities Brit manages, the first thing I would propose is that he work with a third party to perform an Industrial Energy Efficiency Assessment, which can be executed for a single location or across multiple sites.
The assessment will map where energy is used and lost, and it will create a list of opportunities where increased energy efficiency can be achieved by employing technology improvement, implementing behavior change, and through simple changes in operational practice. Some of these opportunities don’t require any capital investment.
In addition to energy efficiency improvements in the main production process, auxiliary/supporting processes are also a fertile ground for energy savings. These include compressed air systems, steam systems and wastewater treatment. These are identified in an audit as well.
A complementary approach Brit could take is to install energy management software – a category of software that measures, monitors and guides in optimizing energy use. It can be implemented at the site level or the enterprise level. It helps to manage energy consumption and allows for optimal planning of energy use, whether it be in-house generation or externally sourced.
A third area of opportunity for Brit to reduce energy consumption is to consider the installation of energy-saving equipment.
As an example, Variable Frequency Drives can be used to replace traditional motor-and-control-valve systems that control the flow of materials throughout the plant, achieving large reductions in energy consumption. Established ROI models for this kind of project help determine whether it’s the right priority for a given plant or facility.
Brit is not likely to find a single change he can make that will achieve most or all of this energy savings target. But by conducting a thorough audit, considering implementation of energy management software and investigating replacement of inefficient or outdated equipment, he has opportunity to find savings that go well beyond the corporation’s 10% goal.
Jim Kelly is Group Vice President, Head of Energy Efficiency at ABB Group. Energy efficiency is a key driver of growth for ABB customers in industry, utilities, transportation and buildings. Previously, Kelly was responsible for ABB Group business development and marketing for the India, Middle East and Africa region.