Impact analysis of energy efficiency mea

The Paris Agreement includes the goals of ‘holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels’ and ‘making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions’. Industrial energy efficiency will play an important role in meeting those goals as well as becoming a competitive advantage due to reduced costs for companies. The aluminium industry, being energy intensive, relies on fossil fuels for both energy purposes and as reaction material, and uses significant amounts of electricity. This paper studies the effects on primary energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs resulting from implementing energy efficiency measures in the electrolysis process, which is the most energy- and carbon-intensive process in aluminium production. We calculated the effects by multiplying the savings in final energy use by relevant primary energy and emissions factors, as well as the price of electricity. The results indicated significant savings in primary energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs as a result of the three implemented measures. However, these results only reflect the potential savings, necessitating site-specific investigations to be conducted for each plant. This study is part of a broader research project in collaboration with the Swedish aluminium industry.