Energy is an important cost factor in the U.S iron and steel industry. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There are a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. iron and steel industry to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, facility, and organizational levels. A discussion of the structure, production trends, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions of the iron and steel industry is provided along with a description of the major process technologies used within the industry. Next, a wide variety of energy efficiency measures are described. Many measure descriptions include expected savings in energy and energy-related costs, based on case study data from real-world applications in the steel and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. iron and steel industry reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of all measures-and on their applicability to different production practices-is needed to assess their cost effectiveness at individual plants.
Abstract"World best practice" energy intensity values, representing the most energy-efficient processes that are in commercial use in at least one location worldwide, are provided for the production of iron and steel, aluminium, cement, pulp and paper, ammonia, and ethylene. Energy intensity is expressed in energy use per physical unit of output for each of these commodities; most commonly these are expressed in metric tonnes (t). The energy intensity values are provided by major energy-consuming processes for each industrial sector to allow comparisons at the process level. Energy values are provided for final energy, defined as the energy used at the production facility as well as for primary energy, defined as the energy used at the production facility as well as the energy used to produce the electricity consumed at the facility. The "best practice" figures for energy consumption provided in this report should be considered as indicative, as these may depend strongly on the material inputs.
Road transport produces significant amounts of CO 2 by using crude oil as primary energy source. A reduction of CO 2 emissions can be achieved by implementing alternative fuel chains. This article studies CO 2 emissions and energy efficiencies by means of a well to wheel analysis of alternative automotive fuel chains, using natural gas (NG) as an alternative primary energy source to replace crude oil. The results indicate that NG-based hydrogen applied in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) lead to largest CO 2 emission reductions (up to 40% compared to current practice). However, large implementation barriers for this option are foreseen, both technically and in terms of network change. Two different transition strategies are discussed to gradually make the transition to these preferred fuel chains. Important transition technologies that are the backbone of these routes are traditional engine technology fuelled by compressed NG and a FCV fuelled by gasoline. The first is preferred in terms of carbon emissions. The results furthermore indicate that an innovation in the conventional chain, the diesel hybrid vehicle, is more efficient than many NG-based chains. This option scores well in terms of carbon emissions and implementation barriers and is a very strong option for the future. r
To contribute to a more accurate accounting of CO 2 emissions originating from the non-energy use of fossil fuels, the non-energy use emission accounting tables (NEAT) model has been developed. The model tracks the final fate of the carbon embodied in this non-energy use by means of a carbon flow analysis for the relevant sectors. The model generates estimates for total non-energy use, carbon storage in synthetic organic chemicals and CO 2 emissions resulting from non-energy use that are independent from energy statistics. This paper describes the basic methodology of the NEAT model. It is shown that the results obtained with the model can be used as an important addition to and crosscheck for the non-energy use emission accounting in official greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventories prepared according to the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The model can help to identify which definitions of non-energy use are applied in the energy statistics employed in national emission inventories and can help to improve national inventory methodologies based on this insight.
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