Energy efficiency improvement in non-intensive energy enterprises: A framework proposal

Abstract

Generalized renewable energy use and the implementation of energy efficiency are two promising solutions to face global environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Government and large enterprises are making efforts in this direction; however, there are bottlenecks to start energy efficiency projects especially in non-intensive energy enterprises (NIEs). The aim of this work is to discuss energy efficiency improvement (EEI) initiatives and analyses a framework proposal to improve the energy efficiency implementation in (NIEs). It was applied the theory of Barrier Model to Energy Efficiency to understand the gap between the levels of opportunities implemented, and what theoretically the industrial sector could achieve. It was found that behavior barriers are relevant to understand the efficiency gap and it is necessary to have an action plan to address them. The analysis has been carried out in the fertilizer industry and the preliminary results demonstrate the advantageous reduction of energy losses.