• Energy Research

Abstract Symbiotic technology is a useful technique for industrial cleaner production and sustainability. A comprehensive assessment method is necessary for the selection and update of advanced symbiotic technologies in technology catalogues. However, there has been no studies focusing on the assessment of symbiotic technology, and the uncertainty of technical performances has been rarely considered. Therefore, this research adopts a multi-criteria decision-making method—entropy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution ) to assess 22 symbiotic technologies in iron and steel industrial network. 6 types of criteria are set to comprehensively assess the comprehensive performance of each technology. In addition, an iron and steel enterprise with 3 Mt annual output is taken as a case to apply in the technical selection schemes and evaluate technical effects. Finally, a random sampling method – Latin Hypercube Sampling is adopted to conduct uncertainty analysis. The results show that: (1) The symbiotic technologies utilizing by-products from ironmaking process have the overall optimal performance, while the ones from sintering process have the worst. The medium of assessment result ranges are lower than the initial ones. (2) Based on the technical assessment results, 12 symbiotic technologies are selected to apply in the case iron and steel enterprise under 3 types of preferences. The environmental manager and integrated preference schemes have the same technologies, but 5 of them are different from the enterprise preference schemes, but all of them can reach significant energy, environment, and economic benefits. The findings are hoped to apply to the formulation and issue of symbiotic technology catalogues, and help enterprises to select effective technical schemes to improve their cleaner production level.

Abstract From the start of China’s G20 presidency, China positions itself as a world leader in fighting climate change and emphasizes the wish to ‘break a new path for growth’. China aims to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and cut its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60–65% from 2005 levels by 2030. The pledge is eagerly awaited as China aims to develop a low carbon economy through switching to alternatives to fossil fuels and being technologically energy-efficient. The power industry is the most important industrial sector while the biggest bottleneck for CO2 emission control in China. This paper develops a technologies-based bottom-up CO2 mitigation model to assess emission reduction potential of different technologies in the thermal power industry up to 2030. Using 2010 as the reference year, two macro-economic scenarios and four technological scenarios have been set to describe future policy measures for the period of 2015–2030. CO2 emission trends, reduction potentials and cost curves are demonstrated under different scenarios. The results show that the electric power industry can reach its CO2 emission peak by 2030 in the middle policy control scenario under macro-economic slow growth. Emissions would peak at 4.6 billion tonnes CO2-eq for the least cost scenario, which is 1.78 billion tones CO2-eq less than peak the BAU scenario in 2030. This is equivalent to the total CO2 emissions from 300 MW to 1000 MW coal-fired power plants with 5000 h in 30 provinces and municipalities of China in 2013. This research shows that the top four negative cost-beneficial technology options, 630℃ or 700℃ USC, small hydroelectricity, and nuclear power pressurized water reactor II and III, are the most preferable to be promoted to meet the CO2 emissions peak target in 2020 and 2030.

AbstractThe annual growth rate of CO2 emissions from China's transportation sector exceeded the growth rate of emissions from the whole society, making transportation the third‐largest CO2 emissions sector after the industrial and household consumption sectors in China. This paper is intended to project CO2 emissions in China's transportation sector from 2010 to 2020 and to assess the effectiveness of possible reduction measures. A detailed bottom‐up model has been developed and four scenarios have been designed to describe the future development of the sector. The results indicate that under the business as usual (BAU) scenario, emissions would increase by 58%, reaching 1.38 billion tCO2 by 2020. Reduction potentials ranged from 96 to 515 million tCO2 under different scenarios. Road transportation alone accounted for more than 80% of total emissions on average, making it a key target for CO2 mitigation actions. Application of conventional transportation technology, together with accelerating the development of new‐energy technologies, was the most effective and contributed to more than 70% of reductions. These measures combined with traffic mode shifts in consumption patterns will lead to the sustainable and effective development of China's transportation sector. In addition, to avoid a rebound in transport fuel demand, policies combination is suggested. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract As the world's largest producer and consumer of ten kinds of non-ferrous metals, China's non-ferrous metals industry accounts for 4.39% of total national energy consumption. It is an energy-intensive industry that faces great challenges related to energy consumption and global climate change. Applying energy-efficient technologies may be a useful strategy for the development of this industry. This paper establishes a technology system within the LEAP model to estimate energy conservation and CO 2 emissions abatement potentials for China's non-ferrous metals industry in 2010–2020. Five smelting processes are considered for aluminum, copper, lead, zinc and magnesium. Three scenarios (BAU, LT and HT) are set to simulate different technological policies and calculate abatement potentials. The results indicate that energy consumption and CO 2 emissions will continue to grow rapidly as the sector develops. Energy consumption under the BAU scenario will reach 88.15 million tce in 2020, 61% higher than in 2010. A maximum of 7.73 million tce of energy can be saved and 36.86 million tons of CO 2 can be reduced under the strongest technology policy scenario (HT) compared to BAU. Energy conservation in aluminum, magnesium, zinc, copper and lead smelting processes account for 72.9%, 13.2%, 10.2%, 2.6% and 1.1% respectively of the total energy savings potential, while the CO 2 abatement potential mostly comes from aluminum, which accounts for 86% of the total. Targeted technology policies should be made for different metals: in the aluminum sector for instance, large scale aluminum electrolytic cells above 300 kA, new cathode structures and intelligent optimization control technologies could be employed; in the zinc industry, direct leaching and long period electric-deposition could be utilized; in the magnesium industry, new types of kilns could be introduced.

A precise energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) path in industrial sector contains two aspects: applying effective ECER measures and focusing on processes with significant ECER potential. However, most studies have investigated the ECER effects of an individual measure or only evaluated industrial-level ECER potential. Therefore, the objective of this study is to find a precise ECER path in China's iron and steel industry through quantitative analysis methods. First, this article adopts scenario analysis to simulate situations where different ECER measures are adopted and designs calculation methods to quantitatively evaluate the ECER effects in each scenario in 2020 and 2025. Second, through analysis of the application of ECER measures to certain processes, we calculate the ECER potential of different individual processes in the iron and steel industry. In addition, the conservation supply curve method and the quadrant method are used to measure the level of advanced technology application. The results show that: (1) for four types of ECER measures, the limitation of production output measure is most effective, contributing to 6.98% and 12.50% decreases in total industrial energy consumption and pollutant emissions in 2020 and 2025; moreover, the contribution of the adjustment of scale structure measure is comparatively low. (2) The sintering and ironmaking processes have strong ECER potential in 2020, while the steel making process also has high ECER potential in 2025. (3) 21 technologies are divided into 4 quadrants based on energy, popularity, and economic performance. In addition, we provide some suggestions for future ECER policies. In sum, this article provides an in-depth example of determining a precise ECER path in an important industry.