Drivers and Barriers for Efficient Energy Management Practices in Energy-Intensive Industries: A Case-Study of Iron and Steel Sector

Abstract

The two major reasons behind the world’s energy crisis are losses in energy transmission and less efficient energy use at sinks. The former flaw can be catered by changing the entire energy transmission system which requires investment and planning on a large scale, whereas the later deficiency can be overcome through proper management of energy utilizing systems. Energy-intensive industries have a substantial share in energy consumption and equally high energy saving potentials if they adopt some integrated and improved energy efficiency. This study investigates the energy management systems in the iron and steel sector of Pakistan, and compare it with findings of similar work in Sweden, Bangladesh, and Ghana. A systematic questionnaire was circulated in the iron and steel sector across the country and afterward the collected data was analyzed to find major barriers and drivers for efficient energy management practices. In addition, questions on non-energy benefits and information sources relevant to the energy efficiency were also part of the questionnaire. Cost reduction resulting from lowered energy use was rated as the most important driver for applying energy-efficient operation. On the other hand, the cost of production disruption was considered among high-level barriers to the implementation of improved energy efficiency. An increase in the life-time of equipment was labeled as the top non-energy benefits. Company peers and seminars/conferences were referred as the best information sources related to energy efficiency. The outcome of the study will be helpful to the decision-maker in the industry, as well as the government levels.

Modeling drivers and barriers of climate change mitigation strategies in Indian iron and steel industry: a TISM-based approach

“…Not only information campaigns call for public action, but new innovative technologies and infrastructure adaptation requires the public engagement and support (Nuttall, 2012). Institutional effectiveness (D5): Factors like motivation, participation and quality of activities benchmarks institutional effectiveness (Ahmad et al. , 2020).…”

“…Financial stability (D8): Limited access to capital, poor market value affects the adoption of any new plan or policy or practice (Brunke et al. , 2014; Ahmad et al. , 2020).…”

“…, 2010). Poor environmental commitment (B2): Lack of managers in influence and minimal importance to energy management practices have been evaluated as a barrier to energy efficiency in iron and steel industry (Ahmad et al. , 2020).…”

The motivation for corporate energy strategies on energy efficiency among Kenyan firms

“…Solnørdal and Thyholdt (2017) identified the level of education and cooperation with competitors, universities and research institutions as the primary organizational drivers toward investment in EE. Ahmad et al (2020) reported that the application for the energy-efficient operation was greatly motivated by the need for cost reduction within Pakistan’s iron and steel sectors. Rohdin and Thollander (2006) observed that people with real ambition and a business’ long-term energy strategy were the most critical EE drivers.…”

Chaos Induced Coyote Algorithm (CICA) for Extracting the Parameters in a Single, Double, and Three Diode Model of a Mono-Crystalline, Polycrystalline, and a Thin-Film Solar PV Cell

“…Chaotic functions are used with the Coyote Optimization Algorithm in order to attain improved results with a higher convergence speed. The effect of the ten chaotic functions on the RMSE values using COA are shown with the help of boxplots for single diode models of mono-crystalline LSM20 solar module in Figure 20, Photowatt-PWP201 solar The applications of various metaheuristic methods in Solar PV parameter extraction and other industrial application has been discussed in [62][63][64][65][66][67][68].…”