Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Systems


Book Description

Energy consumption is of great interest to manufacturing companies. Beyond considering individual processes and machines, the perspective on process chains and factories as a whole holds major potentials for energy efficiency improvements. To exploit these potentials, dynamic interactions of different processes as well as auxiliary equipment (e.g. compressed air generation) need to be taken into account. In addition, planning and controlling manufacturing systems require balancing technical, economic and environmental objectives. Therefore, an innovative and comprehensive methodology – with a generic energy flow-oriented manufacturing simulation environment as a core element – is developed and embedded into a step-by-step application cycle. The concept is applied in its entirety to a wide range of case studies such as aluminium die casting, weaving mills, and printed circuit board assembly in order to demonstrate the broad applicability and the benefits that can be achieved.




Energy Efficiency


Book Description

The entire world, especially the United States, is in the midst of an energy revolution. Since the oil embargo of 1973, individuals, corporations, and other organizations have found ways to economically reduce energy use. In this book, Jim Sweeney examines the energy policies and practices of the past forty years and their impact on three crucial systems: the economy, the environment, and national security. He shows how energy-efficiency contributions to the country's overall energy situation have been more powerful than all the increases in the domestic production of oil, gas, coal, geothermal energy, nuclear power, solar power, wind power, and biofuels. The author details the impact of new and improved energy-efficient technologies, the environmental and national security benefits of energy efficiency, ways to amplify energy efficiency, and more. Energy Efficiency: Building a Clean, Secure Economy reveals how the careful nurturing of private- and public-sector energy efficiency--along with public awareness, appropriate pricing, appropriate policies--and increased research and development, the trends of decreasing energy intensity and increasing energy efficiency can be beneficially accelerated.




Economy, Society and Public Policy


Book Description

Economy, Society, and Public Policy is a new way to learn economics. It is designed specifically for students studying social sciences, public policy, business studies, engineering and other disciplines who want to understand how the economy works and how it can be made to work better. Topical policy problems are used to motivate learning of key concepts and methods of economics. It engages, challenges and empowers students, and will provide them with the tools to articulate reasoned views on pressing policy problems. This project is the result of a worldwide collaboration between researchers, educators, and students who are committed to bringing the socially relevant insights of economics to a broader audience.KEY FEATURESESPP does not teach microeconomics as a body of knowledge separate from macroeconomicsStudents begin their study of economics by understanding that the economy is situated within society and the biosphereStudents study problems of identifying causation, not just correlation, through the use of natural experiments, lab experiments, and other quantitative methodsSocial interactions, modelled using simple game theory, and incomplete information, modelled using a series of principal-agent problems, are introduced from the beginning. As a result, phenomena studied by the other social sciences such as social norms and the exercise of power play a roleThe insights of diverse schools of thought, from Marx and the classical economists to Hayek and Schumpeter, play an integral part in the bookThe way economists think about public policy is central to ESPP. This is introduced in Units 2 and 3, rather than later in the course.




Theories of Institutions


Book Description

The human condition teems with institutions – intertemporal social arrangements that shape human relations in support of particular values – and the social scientific work developed over the last five decades aimed at understanding them is similarly vast and diverse. This book synthesizes scholarship from across the social sciences, with special focus on political science, sociology, economics, and organizational studies. Drawing out institutions' essentially social and temporal qualities and their varying relationships to efficiency and power, the authors identify more underlying similarity in understandings of institutional origins, maintenance, and change than emerges from overviews from within any given disciplinary tradition. Most importantly, Theories of Institutions identifies dozens of avenues for cross-fertilization, the pursuit of which can help keep this broad and inherently diverse field of study vibrant for future generations of scholars.




Political Economies of Energy Transition


Book Description

Shows that economic concerns about jobs, costs, and consumption, rather than climate change, are likely to drive energy transition in developing countries.




Global Energy Governance


Book Description

A Brookings Institution Press and Global Public Policy Institute publication The global market for oil and gas resources is rapidly changing. Three major trends—the rise of new consumers, the increasing influence of state players, and concerns about climate change—are combining to challenge existing regulatory structures, many of which have been in place for a half-century. Global Energy Governance analyzes the energy market from an institutionalist perspective and offers practical policy recommendations to deal with these new challenges. Much of the existing discourse on energy governance deals with hard security issues but neglects the challenges to global governance. Global Energy Governance fills this gap with perspectives on how regulatory institutions can ensure reliable sources of energy, evaluate financial risk, and provide emergency response mechanisms to deal with interruptions in supply. The authors bring together decisionmakers from industry, government, and civil society in order to address two central questions: •What are the current practices of existing institutions governing global oil and gas on financial markets? •How do these institutions need to adapt in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century? The resulting governance-oriented analysis of the three interlocking trends also provides the basis for policy recommendations to improve global regulation. Contributors include Thorsten Benner, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; William Blyth, Chatham House, Royal Institute for International Affairs, London; Albert Bressand, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Dick de Jong, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ralf Dickel, Energy Charter Secretariat; Andreas Goldthau, Central European University, Budapest, and Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Enno Harks, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Wade Hoxtell, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Hillard Huntington, Energy Modeling Forum, Stanford University; Christine Jojarth, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University; Frederic Kalinke, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Wilfrid L. Kohl, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Jamie Manzer, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Amy Myers Jaffe, James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University; Yulia Selivanova, Energy Charter Secretariat; Tom Smeenk, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University; Ronald Soligo, Rice University; Joseph A. Stanislaw, Deloitte LLP and The JAStanislaw Group, LLC; Coby van der Linde, Clingendael International Energy Programme; Jan Martin Witte, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin; Simonetta Zarrilli, Division on International Trade and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.







Improving Energy Efficiency in Industrial Energy Systems


Book Description

Industrial energy efficiency is one of the most important means of reducing the threat of increased global warming. Research however states that despite the existence of numerous technical energy efficiency measures, its deployment is hindered by the existence of various barriers to energy efficiency. The complexity of increasing energy efficiency in manufacturing industry calls for an interdisciplinary approach to the issue. Improving energy efficiency in industrial energy systems applies an interdisciplinary perspective in examining energy efficiency in industrial energy systems, and discusses how “cross-pollinating” perspectives and theories from the social and engineering sciences can enhance our understanding of barriers, energy audits, energy management, policies, and programmes as they pertain to improved energy efficiency in industry. Apart from classical technical approaches from engineering sciences, Improving energy efficiency in industrial energy systems couples a sociotechnical perspective to increased energy efficiency in industry, showing that industrial energy efficiency can be expected to be shaped by social and commercial processes and built on knowledge, routines, institutions, and methods established in networks. The book can be read by researchers and policy-makers, as well as scholars and practicians in the field. “This book is extremely valuable for anyone who is designing or executing energy efficiency policies, schemes or projects aiming at SMEs. Both authors deserve the highest respect, and the combination of their expertise makes the results truly unique.” - Daniel Lundqvist, programme manager at the Swedish energy agency “For anyone interested in improving energy efficiency in industry, this is a must-read. The book combines tools from social science and engineering to discuss the state of art today as well as possible development path tomorrow. This is a compelling book that I find useful both in my teaching and my research.” - Kajsa Ellegård, Professor at Linköping University, Sweden "The book Improving energy efficiency in industrial energy systems is a novel approach on how improved levels of energy efficiency can be reached in industrial energy systems by merging engineering with social sciences. It is with delight that I can recommend their book to anyone interested in the field.”- Mats Söderström, Director Energy Systems Programme, Linköping University, Sweden




Institutional Efficiency and Its Determinants


Book Description

This publication discusses the impact of institutions on economic development and the determinants that shape institutional quality, using a new institutional economics (NIE) model based on a multidisciplinary approach to understanding issues including growth, efficiency and income distribution. Using the experience of Argentina under the Menem government as a case study, a methodology is developed and applied to test theoretical hypotheses regarding the concept of institutional quality and how delineation between economic and political institutions work in practice. It also considers systems of democracy and autocracy, and the impact of traditional, legal and cultural frameworks on institutional efficiency.




Megatrends for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Book Description

The use of energy is being shaped by environmental issues including the fear of global warming. This has resulted in the development of renewable energy sources and more efficient building technology. Examining trends in energy efficiency, this book explores energy technologies and fuels, their prospects in a world with greenhouse gas restrictions. It looks at the technical and economic tradeoffs of traditional renewables such as wind and solar, as well as large scale PV and concentrated thermal power. It also considers biomass technologies. For each of these technologies, it discusses planning, siting, installation, operation and maintenance, health and safety, power conditioning, and efficiency innovations.