Report

Low-hanging fruit in the industry

One of the key aims of the Dutch Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth is to improve the energy efficiency of energy-intensive industries, proceeding from an obligation to implement measures with a payback of up to 5 years. To that end, companies covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme will enter into a 1-on-1 agreement with government. For companies covered by the 3rd Multi-Year Agreement on Energy Efficiency, environmental permits will play a key role.  

In this context it is important for local authorities and environmental agencies to know what kind of energy-efficiency measures are available to industries with a payback of 5 years or less, and as a tool for this purpose DCMR Rijnmond Environmental Protection Agency asked CE Delft to draw up a Top Ten of ‘no-regret’ measures. 

Potential energy-efficiency measures were assigned a score based on four criteria: energy-saving potential, generic applicability, short payback period and enforceability, and ranked accordingly. The Top Ten measures were then worked up into factsheets, using publically available information and contractor data. The factsheets provide as detailed information as possible on costs, savings and payback period, as well as factors critical to implementation. 

DCMR is already using the factsheets in talks with industry, as they provide an effective tool for rapidly understanding which generic measures are most generally profitable.

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