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Abstract: Paper production is an energy-intensive process and accounted for about 9% of industrial energy demand in Germany in 2008. There have only been slow improvements in energy efficiency in the paper industry over the past twenty years. Policies can accelerate the progress made, but knowledge about the remaining efficiency potentials and their costs is a prerequisite for their success. We assess 17 process technologies to improve energy efficiency in the German pulp and paper industry up to 2035 using a techno-economic approach. These result in a saving potential of 34 TJ/a for fuels and 12 TJ/a for electricity, which equal 21% and 16% of fuel and electricity demand, respectively. The energy savings can be translated into mitigated CO2 emissions of 3 Mt. The larger part of this potential is found to be cost-effective from a firm''s perspective. The most influential technologies are heat recovery in paper mills and the use of innovative paper drying technologies. In conclusion, significant saving potentials are still available, but are limited if we assume that current paper production processes will not change radically. Further savings would be available if the system boundaries of this study were extended to e.g. include cross-cutting technologies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The rebound effect presents a major flaw in to energy conservation policies that aim to reduce energy consumption through energy efficiency development. Economics and energy related disciplines have thus far developed tools to measure such a phenomenon. This paper attempts to explain this seeming paradox using a thermodynamic-evolutionary theoretical framework in addition to the traditional economic approach. We here propose that evolutionary systems, such as biological or even economic systems, may rearrange themselves in a more complex fashion under the pressure of an increasing flux of energy, driven by the higher conversion rate of greater efficiency. Higher complexity, due to a greater energy density rate, counteracts the positive effects of energy efficiency. We investigated this hypothesis in the context of the road freight transport system and the productive structure. The qualitative analysis in this paper, further substantiated by figures, provides a link between the dynamics of production patterns and the effect of efficiency in the light of the macro-economic effects of increased energy demand. The analysis departs from a rigorous investigation of the actual energy efficiency evolution in the road freight transport system to develop through a survey of the subsequent worldwide economic revolution in the production system. It is then shown how outsourcing, the key feature of globalization, can be identified as the main source of traffic density growth. Finally, four paradigms are used to stress how the shift in the production system must be considered a leap in structural complexity that consequently serves to increase the frequency of components’ interactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Fifteen years after the publication of the article entitled "Energy Education: breaking up the rational energy use barriers" in 2004, what were the paths taken and scientific contributions made towards a rational energy use as regards energy education? This paper aims to answer this question by collecting data on the Web of Science database to identify publications citing the aforementioned article using different levels of approach. The selected papers were structured in clusters utilizing software for such a purpose, which allowed organizing and listing reviewed works from which a cluster of keywords has been structured to identify the most frequently cited terms. Once found, the following step was to perform a content analysis to allow organizing authorship and contributions. During this process, the term "barriers" in the context of rational energy use was not restricted to its class, but it was present in the analysis of other terms that constitute other classes. Energy education is presented as one of the ways to make society more aware and active while taking actions towards rational energy use. However, to achieve greater effectiveness of such an educational process, the human aspect requires special attention through a clearer definition of personal values, attitude, and behaviour because of its importance for activities aimed at energy issues. • Energy education is crucial for energy rational use. • Other approaches for energy education were identified. • Individual's psyche influence on energy rational use. • Several barriers permeate energy and its use. • Energy education enables energy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve greater energy sustainability, the European Union has begun the reform process of the energy policy. Two main lines have been raised: electricity generation with renewable energy and energy saving. The raising cost of energy makes indoor lighting techniques as one of the most important contributors for energy saving in most of the industrialized countries. Therefore, the history of indoor lighting is not exclusively linked to the development of new light sources, having impact on energy saving and sustainability. The aim of this paper was to study and analyse the evolution and milestones of indoor lighting from incandescent bulbs to the modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic lighting emitting diodes (OLED) going through intermediate milestones like fluorescent lamps (FL) and/or techniques in lighting induction lamps. As main conclusion of this review, it has been found that indoor lighting techniques with their energy efficiency have opened new perspectives for optimizing the energy conversion and this in turn will play a major role in people's quality of life and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The first objective of this paper is to map the adoption of technologies for the reduction of energy and resource consumption in production and the second is to test the relationship between the implementation of those technologies and the performance of manufacturing firms. The aim is to contribute to the identification of the characteristics of the manufacturing firms that use this kind of innovative technology in order to help policy makers promote energy and resource efficiency in a suitable manner. Our research is based on the Spanish and Slovenian subsamples of a wider European Manufacturing Survey. Our suggested models explain how significant energy efficiency is, and how much of the variability in economic performance and environmental performance it can explain. The results show that the use of energy and material saving technologies does not have a clear and significant relationship with economic performance. On the other hand a significant positive relationship is found between energy and material saving technologies and environmental performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The site-specific nature of renewable sources, the need to involve citizens in the energy-planning process and the perspective of local governments, who are the first governmental stakeholders involved in the implementation of energy-saving initiatives, has recently emphasised the strategic role played by municipalities in the energy-planning process. The present paper discusses the role of municipal planning in the context of the regional energy-planning process based on the of results derived from 12 municipal energy plans developed for urban areas located in Marche Region, in the centre of Italy, whose inhabitants represent approximately 40% of the whole region. Five years after the approval of the Regional Energy Master Plan, REMP, the analysis of 12 municipal energy plans represents an important opportunity to gather feedback on the main regional policy initiatives defined by the REMP, attempting to understand the main obstacles to their development and understand the role played by municipal energy planning. Primary energy savings, relative carbon dioxide emission reductions and the costs of the initiatives studied by the municipal energy plans have been discussed to quantify the contribution of municipalities for the fulfilment of the regional targets, providing terms of comparison for other geographic areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of Educa-RUE project is to improve energy performance in building sector at local level and with particular attention to educational buildings, by promoting the ability of local players to guide and orient initiatives, designed to encourage energy saving by means of specific measures and integrated tools. The project is therefore focused to speed up the implementation of European Directive on Energy Performance in Buildings, EPBD (2002/91/EC), in Member States at local government level and to ensure its operability, within the various national legislations of reference. Educa-RUE lasted 30months, from January 2008 to June 2010, and involved the following eight partners: for Italy, Provinces of Potenza (project leader), Perugia, Rieti and Palermo; for other Countries, Climate Energy Ltd. Essex and Energy Solutions North West London (UK), Associación Aragonesa de Entidades Locales ASAEL (Spain), Municipality of Prenzlau (Germany). A number of closely interconnected actions were carried on in eight Work Packages (WPs) to face the energy efficiency aspects identified as primary problems by the partners. The project developed a model process, known as “Educa-RUE method”, to assess possible policies of intervention on educational buildings, owned or managed by each Partner. In particular the Province of Perugia, leader of WP 2 and 5, provided guide lines and tools in order to: identify the state of the art of EPBD implementation and the main non-technological barriers, which are preventing its application at local level; select, within the Province/area patrimony, the most suitable educational building, to be used as a shining example to develop the following testing phases of the project; carry on an energy check, or audit, of selected buildings, by involving the educational community as user and active participant in the whole process; elaborate an executive project, concerning the description of all the building elements (structure, roof, heating/cooling plants, etc.) which need to be replaced/improved and the application of an energy/environmental assessment; plan refurbishing interventions for the rest of the school buildings directly managed by each Partner, according to specific priority selection criteria, which represents a guiding and coordinating act for those Administrations directly or indirectly interested in the Project. This paper presents the results obtained by testing and proving Educa-RUE method in different regional areas. Its findings can be extended to other building typologies in order to create a reference model for local planners and responsible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides a review of lighting energy saving and energy efficiency policies and practices in office buildings. The results of a face to face survey of 685 managers of companies are presented, which give insights into the factors that have influenced them to invest in lighting saving technologies. The assessment of the available lighting technologies in use in office buildings, showed that the installation of lighting saving technologies was positively influenced by a number of parameters, such as high annual financial turnover, recently established companies and companies managed by older, highly educated and energy aware people. The acceptability of the adoption and use of new efficient lighting technologies and the willingness to pay for proposed new efficient office lighting technologies, following a technico-economic information session, were also investigated. The willingness of a manager to invest in lighting energy saving/efficient technology was positively influenced by a number of factors including when a company was located in old buildings, if it was companies affected by electricity shortages, and/or if it had a large floor area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper provides a review of the energy saving policies and technologies on double glazing windows, central heating and air conditioning in office buildings. After which results of a face to face survey of 685 companies’ managers are presented, which give insights into the facts that have influenced them to invest in the installation of double glazing windows, installation of thermostatic regulators, inverter air-conditioning technologies and on proper maintenance and filter cleaning of the air-conditioning units. Finally, their willingness to install such technologies after a technico-economic information session is elicited. The results show that among factors that make managers have a more energy saving profile are ownership, awareness status, recent establishment of the company and companies dealing with trade. Among factors that influence willingness to undertake specific energy efficient measures for heating and cooling appear to be ownership, recently established companies, companies dealing with services, companies with a high number of personnel, and companies with high ratios of electricity bill per annual turnover. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Energy behaviours represent a significant untapped potential for the increase of end-use energy efficiency in buildings. Although energy behaviours are a major determinant of energy use in buildings, energy savings potential due to behaviour are usually neglected, albeit being referred to be as high as those from technological solutions. This paper presents a review of recent literature on energy behaviours in order to recognise recent trends, quantify energy behaviours potential savings, characterise energy behaviour modelling strategies and identify potential research gaps. Energy behaviour research is vast and has been essentially focused on the residential sector, striving to establish behaviour determinants and the best strategies and instruments to promote more efficient energy behaviours. Potential savings of energy behaviours are referred to reach 20%, but values differ up to 100% between experiences and additional studies to quantify behavioural savings are needed, in particular by using standard quantification techniques. Different modelling techniques have been used to model energy behaviours: qualitative approaches from the social sciences trying to interpret behaviour, here named energy behaviour frameworks; quantitative approaches from the engineering and economics that quantify energy consumption, here designated by energy models; and hybrid approaches that are considered the most relevant since they integrate multiple dimensions of energy behaviours, here referred as energy behaviour modelling. Energy behaviours have a crucial role in promoting energy efficiency, but energy behaviours characteristics and complexity create several research challenges that must be overcome so energy behaviours may be properly valorised and integrated in the energy policy context. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The improvement of energy efficiency is seen as one of the most promising measures for reducing global CO2 emissions. However, the emission reduction potential may seem different from the industrial plant and policy-maker’s perspectives. This paper evaluates the influences of process heat conservation on CHP electricity production, primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions from both the mill site and national perspectives. The results indicate that heat conservation in an industrial process may lead to varying results in primary energy consumption and CO2 emissions, depending on the form of marginal heat production used at the mill site. In the CHP process, reduction of the heat load lowers electricity production, and this reduction may have to be compensated for at the national level. Therefore, the energy conservation potential in industry has to be evaluated by taking into account the connections to the outside society, which means that a wider system boundary than a mill site has to be used. This study demonstrates by theoretical analysis and case mill studies the magnitude of the effects of system boundary definition when evaluating the contribution of an individual energy efficiency investment towards fulfilling the commitment to reduce CO2 emissions at the national level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on a large sample for the German commercial and services sector, this paper econometrically assesses the relevance of various types of barriers to energy efficiency at the sectoral level and across fifteen sub-sectors. The results at the level of entire sectors suggest that the lack of information about energy consumption patterns and about energy efficiency measures, lack of staff time, priority setting within organizations, and – in particular – the investor/user dilemma are all relevant barriers. Allowing for sector-specific differences in the relevance of these individual barriers yields a more heterogeneous picture. The numbers and types of relevant barriers vary across sub-sectors, and the majority of sub-sectors are subject to relatively few barriers. The statistically most significant barriers are found for the sub-sector of public administrations. These findings are robust, independent of whether the definition of an organization's energy efficiency performance includes only measures that have actually been realized or also those that are being planned. For planned projects, however, organizations appear to underestimate internal priority setting as a barrier to energy efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Trends in China''s energy future will have considerable consequences for both China and the global environment. Though China''s carbon emissions are low on a per capita basis, China is already ranked the world''s second largest producer of carbon, behind only America. China''s buildings sector currently accounts for 23% of China''s total energy use and is projected to increase to one-third by 2010. Energy policy plays an important role in China''s sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to provide a broad overview of energy efficiency issues in the built environment in China. This paper, firstly briefly, reviews the key national policies related to the built environment and demonstrates the government''s environmental concern. Secondly, the authors introduce recent energy policies in the built environment. Energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment, which are the key issues of the national energy policy, have been reviewed. Discussion of the implementation of energy policy has been carried out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The focus of this paper is on energy efficiency of domestic equipment. It is contended that, in the UK and—by extension—elsewhere. Government has to take the lead in defining low-energy standards for products. In the absence of policy, manufacturers do not recognize the need for carbon reductions in the equipment they design and consumers are unaware of the variation in energy performance in the product range. At present, neither market pull nor technology push can be relied upon to deliver energy savings. The imposition of a weak minimum standard on domestic fridges and freezers in 1999 will, over the lifetime of the appliances already sold by December 2002, save 1 Mt C of carbon dioxide at nil cost to government or to the manufacturers, and a net benefit to consumers of £855 m: a highly cost-effective policy. The difference between energy efficiency and energy conservation is that it takes time for the cumulative benefits of an energy efficiency improvement to result in the maximum effect on energy demand reduction: the benefits of the 1999 energy efficiency standard will accumulate until at least 2020. This period is equivalent to the cycle of stock replacement for that particular object. The final level of energy conservation depends upon the offsetting effects of growth in ownership levels and the size of new equipment purchases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• A new benchmarking methodology is explored based on the Lorenz curve. • An index of energy consumption levels is determined based on limited information. • Introduces a new method to label buildings based on their energy performance. • Assists to reform energy policies rooted in a novel heating fee allocation method. Increasing emphasis has been made on energy conservation and pollution control with regard to the urbanization and sustainable development in Chinese society. This requires the three parties involved, the government, the heating providers and the building occupants, to focus on energy policies that can encourage behavior towards energy saving. For this, the heating energy performance in the region should be evaluated and the energy benchmarks need to be extracted. This paper adopted a novel approach to derive the benchmarks of the existing building stock in a cold region of China. The benchmarking was done using a special technique based on the Lorenz curve, which was compared with two competing methods. The Lorenz curve method was proved to be the most adequate one among the three. It can extract the energy benchmarks based on the distribution rules of heating energy use intensity in relation to the cumulative building area. Besides, it is an efficient method when only limited building information or data is available. Based on the results, this study also discussed in what way policy incentives can focus on the relationship between heating fees and building energy performance in the severe cold climate zones of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]