Introduction on energy benchmarking
Energy intensity and energy efficiency
Energy intensity and energy efficiency are just the two sides of the coin: The lower the energy intensity the higher the energy efficiency. In other words: a production which consumes less energy with the same product output is more energy efficient or less energy intensive than another comparable production.
Energy performance is directly related to environmental performance. For example, from an environmental perspective, climate change is considered by many to be the greatest environmental threat to face the world. Combustion of conventional fuels produces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a major contributor to greenhouse gases causing climate change. In addition, for most plants, improved energy efficiency will reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, thus reducing a serious contribution to local pollution and poor air quality in the area. Energy efficiency is clearly an important factor relating to environmental performance for an enterprise.
Energy use and economy
The effective utilization of energy is also an important item contributing to the profitability of a process or enterprise. It is important to recognize that energy is not a fixed cost; in fact it is one of the easiest costs for a business to manage. Most plants could reduce energy costs without significant investment, and perhaps more with some investment. It is often easier to increase the profitability of the company by reducing energy costs than by increasing sales or turnover. For many typical businesses, a reduction in energy bills can represent the same as a % increase in sales. Also, mismanagement of energy - such as poorly maintained equipment - suggests to staff and visitors that safety, production efficiency and staff working conditions are not valued enough by the company.
Benchmarking guides to energy efficiency
The challenge is how to put this simple equation into practice. From international experiences we can learn that many improvements towards energy efficiency are based on a management approach which is called benchmarking. Benchmarking compares a specific plant or process to its peers or to the industry best practice. Although many companies often think that they are already highly energy-efficient, benchmarking provides a tool to test this perception. Benchmarking programs typically result in increased attention to energy efficiency and energy conservation.
Although benchmarking is a fashionable expression meanwhile in business magazines, although global players are using benchmarking like their international competitors, although case studies and pilot projects of successful benchmarking exist, this powerful tool for improvements is not yet used widely and systematically in energy intensive industries and industries at all. One of the reasons for this deficiency is that benchmarking is often considered to be related with technology in the hardware sense only. But benchmarking depends not on technology but on good management that is able to apply the basic tools of monitoring and targeting to achieve greater success in business.