Benchmarking the energy use

Energy Benchmarking is used in order to make comparison between the two or several industrial plants on the basis of energy performance. Most efficient and yet practically operated industrial units are used as benchmarks.  Energy benchmarking is part of a much wider use of benchmarking as a management tool. The sectoral benchmarks can be as simple as the identification of most efficient energy consumption norms within the sector, or as sophisticated as the formulation of  benchmark curves in which the energy use of individual plants is plotted as a dependent variable from the most efficient to the least efficient plant, either as function of cumulative production or of the number of plants. In both the cases, the information can be used to assess the relative performance of individual plants. In cases  where sufficient information is available and the benchmark curve is fairly comprehensive, it can also be used to estimate the aggregate savings potential at each level.

UNIDO, in one of its  Working Paper on Industrial bench marks, estimated  these international benchmarks, based on the energy use of best practice technologies, for 26 industrial processes, products and industry sectors. These processes include the energy intensive sectors such as the iron and steel, and chemical and petrochemical sectors, as well as number of light industries and small-scale sectors such as foundries and lime kilns. For those sectors for which benchmark surveys do not exist, the report develops and compares energy indicators in different regions to provide an estimate for an international benchmark. Energy indicators are estimated based on literature data, i.e. production statistics and international energy statistics, and country-level comparisons are based either on an Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) or on an average of current levels of Specific Energy Consumption (SEC).

Under the auspices of “Sustainable Energy Initiative for Industries in Pakistan”, a detailed Sectoral Study Report on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy opportunities in Five Industrial Sectors such as Paper & Pulp, Steel, Dairy, textile and Ceramic is launched. This sectoral study was conducted to serve as a guiding principle for energy consultants as well as industrialists, in achieving energy efficiency and opportunities of renewable energy in their industries.

Click here to download Sectoral Report