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The pulp and paper industry faces several challenges linked to climate and environmental impact, resource efficiency, rising energy prices, increased competition for biomass resources, and declining demand for traditional printed paper products. However, these challenges also offer strategic opportunities for the industry to develop into a competitive, resource-efficient, and low-carbon industry in line with a biobased economy. Against this background, this paper aims to analyse current energy strategies in the pulp and paper industry in Sweden. Specifically, the paper analyses how companies combine continuous process efficiency to reduce energy costs with activities that could be developed into new energy-related products to increase revenue. Most of the analysed companies work to various degrees with both these strategies, employing methods that include improving energy efficiency, energy security, and energy conversion, as well as developing a wide range of biobased energy products. However, our study indicates that there is an untapped potential associated with energy product development, and we conclude that energy efficiency measures can free up resources, enabling the development of new energy products. Finally, several potential managerial outcomes and implications are outlined. • The paper analyses the energy strategies in the pulp and paper industry in Sweden. • Energy strategies focus both to improve energy efficiency and develop new energy-products. • The companies' energy strategies combined exploitation and exploration. • A number of managerial implications are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency in industry is recognized as one of the most vital activities for the mitigation of climate change. Consequently, policy initiatives from governments addressing both energy-intensive and small and medium-sized industry have been enacted. In this paper, the energy end-use and the energy efficiency potential among industrial small and medium-sized companies participating in the Swedish Energy Audit Program are reviewed. The three manufacturing industries of wood and cork, food products and metal products (excluding machinery and equipment) are studied. A unique categorization of their production processes’ energy end-use is presented, the results of which show that the amount of energy used in various categories of production processes differ between these industries. This applies to support processes as well, highlighting the problem of generalizing results without available bottom-up energy end-use data. In addition, a calculation of conservation supply curves for measures related to production processes is presented, showing that there still remains energy saving potential among companies participating in the Swedish Energy Audit Program. However, relevant data in the database used from the Swedish Energy Audit Program is lacking which limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the conservation supply curves. This study highlights the need to develop energy policy programs delivering high-quality data. This paper contributes to a further understanding of the intricate matters of industrial energy end-use and energy efficiency measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To face global competition, and also reduce environmental and climate impact, industry-wide changes are needed, especially regarding energy use, which is closely related to global warming. Energy efficiency is therefore an essential task for the future as it has a significant impact on both business profits and the environment. For the analysis of possible changes in industrial production processes, and to choose what changes should be made, various modelling tools can be used as a decision support. This paper uses two types of energy analysis tool: Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Energy Systems Optimisation (ESO). The aim of this study is to describe how a DES and an ESO tool can be combined. A comprehensive five-step approach is proposed for reducing system costs and making a more robust production system. A case study representing a new investment in part of a Swedish iron foundry is also included to illustrate the method''s use. The method described in this paper is based on the use of the DES program QUEST and the ESO tool reMIND. The method combination itself is generic, i.e. other similar programs can be used as well with some adjustments and adaptations. The results from the case study show that when different boundary conditions are used the result obtained from the simulation tools is not optimum, in other words, the result shows only a feasible solution and not the best way to run the factory. It is therefore important to use the optimisation tool in such cases in order to obtain the optimum operating strategy. By using the optimisation tool a substantial amount of resources can be saved. The results also show that the combination of optimisation and simulation tools is useful to provide very detailed information about how the system works and to predict system behaviour as well as to minimise the system cost. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights • Four different energy performance indicators of public bus transport are discussed. • Regional differences in fuel use are strongly correlated with the propulsion systems. • A life cycle view is necessary to estimate the environmental impact of fuel use. • Fuel efficient buses may still have a high WTW energy use and environmental impact. • Biogas is more efficient than other alternative fuels in reducing GHG emissions. Abstract The share of renewable fuels in Swedish public transport is steadily increasing, in line with European energy and climate goals as well as a national goal of a fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030. However, the progression towards this goal is quite different among the Swedish regions, and efforts have been made on a national level to compare the public bus transport systems and provide a foundation for policymaking. This paper investigates different ways of assessing and presenting the energy performance of public bus transport systems. The analysis includes use of renewable and fossil fuels as well as energy efficiency and its underlying factors. Various energy performance indicators are presented and discussed with regards to practical implications and applicability for policy support. A life cycle perspective on fuels ("well-to-wheel") is found to have clear advantages when it comes to global reductions of fossil energy use and emissions. This requires detailed information about the fuel use, which is not always the case with the existing reporting system. Setting the energy use in relation to number of passengers transported rather than just the distance covered would better reflect the function of the transport system, but is also more uncertain with the current data available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Industrial energy programs such as energy audit programs and long-term agreements (LTAs) are one of the most common means of promoting energy efficiency in industry. As a result of the European Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive from 2006, the Swedish Government Bill proposed a national energy program towards industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using more than 500MWh energy annually. The aim of this paper is to present the structure and design of the program, adopted in 2010, the logics in brief behind the structure, as well as an ex-ante evaluation of the program’s cost-effectiveness. The paper is aimed towards the part of the program involving industry, i.e. not the part involving companies within service and sales etc. The proposed design primarily includes a subsidized energy audit with some minor LTA-elements, such as the need to report results from the energy audit, to present a plan over which measures to conduct, and after three years present which measures that were implemented. The ex-ante evaluation of the program shows a cost-effectiveness of 0.25–0.50Eurocents/kWh, yielding savings of about 700–1 400GWh annually. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper focuses on Swedish homeowners’ need for and perceptions about adopting building envelop energy efficiency measures. The paper is based on a questionnaire survey of 3059 homeowners (response rate of 36%) selected by stratified random sampling during the summer of 2008. The results showed that 70–90% of the respondents had no intention of adopting such a measure over the next 10years. The main reasons for non-adoption were that homeowners were satisfied with the physical condition, thermal performance, and aesthetics of their existing building envelope components. A greater proportion of respondents perceived that improved attic insulation has more advantages than energy efficient windows and improved wall insulation, but windows were more likely to be installed than improved attic insulation. Respondents gave high priority to economic factors in deciding on an energy efficiency measure. Interpersonal sources, construction companies, installers, and energy advisers were important sources of information for homeowners as they planned to adopt building envelope energy efficiency measures. Policy measures to facilitate the rate of adoption of energy efficient building envelope measures are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to conceptually analyze the cost-effectiveness of voluntary energy efficiency programs targeted at the industrial sector. In the paper a broad methodological framework for such an assessment is outlined, and this is applied empirically to discuss the potential cost-effectiveness of the ongoing Swedish energy efficiency program PFE. The focus lies on the presence of asymmetric information and bounded rationality, and the paper discusses how these factors may influence the cost-effectiveness of these types of programs. We also highlight the impact of the self-selection mechanism on the program''s cost-effectiveness. The results show that the presence of information inefficiencies and asymmetries represents one of the major motives for policy intervention in the industrial energy efficiency field, but the substitution of energy management systems for electricity taxes—such as that achieved in the Swedish PFE program—does not necessarily address these asymmetries entirely cost-effectively. First, the presence of firm-government information asymmetries implies that electricity taxes could do a better job in energy-intensive companies while an energy management system could be more effective in companies with a low energy-intensive production process due to the lack of prior experience of energy efficiency measures. The current set-up of PFE induces the reverse situation. Second, although firm-internal information asymmetries may well exist in the participating energy-intensive companies—implying that energy management systems could do a good job in detecting cost-effective measures—this is likely to be even more true for the non-participating companies (again due to their comparatively low accumulated knowledge in the energy efficiency field). It should however also be acknowledged that this analysis is static, and in the long-run voluntary energy efficiency programs may lead to significant learning impacts and—given the public good characteristics of this new knowledge—to important spillover effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Public acceptability appears an essential condition for the success of low-carbon transition policies. In this paper, we investigate the role of self-interest on citizens' preferences for the distribution of costs and environmental benefits of energy efficiency policies. Using a discrete choice experiment on nationally representative household samples of Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom, we first investigate preferences for national burden-sharing rules and for the distribution of environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural and/or urban areas. We examine the role of self-interest and self-serving bias in a correlational manner by looking at the effects of income and location of residency on preferences for these policy attributes. Moreover, we investigate the effect of self-serving bias on preferences for burden-sharing rules in a causal manner by experimentally priming randomly assigned groups of participants to feel either rich or poor. Our results suggest that the accountability rule is the most popular and the equal-amount rule the least popular burden-sharing rule. Further, policies with environmental benefits accruing primarily in rural areas are least preferred. We find some evidence for self-interest, especially through our correlational approach. Finally, across country samples, our results reveal heterogeneity in preferences for policy attributes and in the prevalence of self-interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential buildings account for almost a quarter of the total energy use in Sweden and building owners are, therefore, under pressure from policy makers to improve the energy performance of their buildings. Building portfolio owners (BPOs) generally face multiple barriers in energy efficiency investments such as financial constraints and lack of knowledge of the current state when planning energy efficiency measures. This paper presents a method for cost-optimal scheduling of maintenance and retrofit measures on a portfolio level by drawing on research on building stock modeling and maintenance retrofit planning. The method uses a building stock modeling approach to model costs, energy and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)of a building portfolio and combines this with a method for optimal maintenance and retrofit scheduling in order to forecast and optimize the timing of measures on a building portfolio level. This enables the integrated long-term planning on retrofit investments and reduction of energy demand and GHG emissions for a portfolio of existing buildings. The application to the building portfolio of the municipal housing company of Gothenburg showed that by optimizing the maintenance and retrofit plans, ambitious retrofit measures can be introduced in the majority of the buildings with a positive effect on the service-life cycle costs. Moreover, the method is easily transferable to other building portfolios in Sweden as it builds up on nationally available data sets but is ideally complemented and verified using inspection data and existing maintenance plans of the BPOs in future applications. • This paper presents a method for cost-optimal planning of maintenance and retrofit measures in portfolio level. • The application of the method showed that retrofit measures can be applied in most buildings with a reduction of EAC. • Through optimization, the total EAC of the retrofit scenario can be lowered by 15% compared to a reinstatement scenario. • By applying an ambitious retrofit scenario, the average energy demand can be lowered from 120 to 65 kWh/m2 year by 2050. • The method is easily transferable to other building portfolios in Sweden as it builds up on national data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 2011, the total consumption of pellets in Sweden amounted to 1.9 million tons, which represents an energy value of 9 TWh. The pellets are used in large-scale as well as in small-scale applications, and increased demands on pellet quality are likely to force pellet producers to improve on the pellet properties. One way of increasing pellet quality is by using additives. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to examine kraft lignin as an additive. Pellets were produced in a small industrial pellet press located at Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden, and 1–4% of kraft lignin was added to the pellets. The results indicate that the addition of an increased amount of kraft lignin to the pellets increases their mechanical durability and their lengths. The results also indicate that dry kraft lignin yields pellets with higher durability as compared to wet kraft lignin. The energy demand was unaffected by the increased use of kraft lignin. The general results presented in this paper are useful for producers of lignin, pellet producers and end-users of pellets, who are interested in developing their products and/or improving the production processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The processes of iron and steel making are energy intensive and consume large quantities of electricity and fossil fuels. In order to meet future climate targets and energy prices, the iron and steel industry has to improve its energy and resource efficiency. For the iron and steel industry to utilize its energy resources more efficiently and at the same time reduce its CO2 emissions a number of options are available. In this paper, opportunities for both integrated and scrap-based steel plants are presented and some of the options are electricity production, fuel conversion, methane reforming of coke oven gas and partnership in industrial symbiosis. The options are evaluated from a system perspective and more specific measures are reported for two Swedish case companies: SSAB Strip Products and Sandvik AB. The survey shows that both case companies have great potentials to reduce their CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]