Energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries - an evaluation of the Swedish voluntary agreement PFE

In this paper we evaluate the Swedish Programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE). Since 2005, some 100 energy-intensive companies have entered this five year voluntary agreement (VA) and been exempted from the EU minimum tax on electricity. In return, each company is required to: conduct an energy audit and analysis; identify and invest in profitable electricity saving measures; implement and certify an energy management system; introduce routines for energy efficient procurement and project planning. For most participants the first programme period was completed in 2009 and available data enables this PFE ex-post evaluation. An impact evaluation compiles and analyse data that the companies have reported to the administrating agency, the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA). This assessment of quantifiable results is complemented by a process-oriented approach that combines studies of policy documents, previous evaluations and personal communication with administrators as well as companies. The bottom-up calculation method distinguishes between gross and net impact. While the SEA estimates a gross impact of 1450 GWh/year the net impact consists of an interval between 689 and 1015 GWh of net annual electricity savings. PFE has effectively and to a low cost exceeded the estimated impact of a minimum tax and can thus be judged as successful. A comprehensive evaluation plan could facilitate relevant data gathering in PFE and similar VAs and could, in doing so, improve accuracy and possibly reduce evaluation cost. Such a plan should give weight also to the organisational changes, with potential long-lasting effects, that these programmes are capable of promoting

National Report on the Energy Efficiency Service Business in Sweden

The ChangeBest project is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Commission. The purpose of the project is to promote the development of an energy efficiency service (EES) market. The project provides good practice examples of changes in energy service business, strategies, and supportive policies and measures in the course of the implementation of Directive 2006/32/EC on Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services. This report presents the sitauation of the Swedish energy efficiency service market

Process and impact evaluation of PFE – a Swedish tax rebate program for industrial energy efficiency

Before the minimum tax directive (2003/96/EC) took effect in 2004, Swedish industries had enjoyed untaxed electricity for over a decade. While the introduction of the tax increased costs for many companies, energy intensive industries were eligible for exemption if they entered an agreement on energy efficiency. Sweden quickly implemented the directive and simultaneously launched the Programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE). Since then, over 100 companies have entered the five-year voluntary agreement which requires participants to do energy audits, implement energy management systems and make profitable investments. PFE has been hailed as a major success. Participants cite it in bringing organisation and structure into their energy management activities. Companies and industry associations now advocate for policies of this kind to receive precedence when targeting increased energy efficiency. According to ex-ante estimates PFE has resulted in gross annual electricity savings of at least 1 TWh, equivalent to 3 percent of the total consumption of participating companies. This paper presents an intermediate program evaluation focusing both on the PFE process and impact; it evaluates under what conditions the program meets stated objectives. It is evident that gross and net impact will deviate significantly from the officially reported results. Considering EU energy saving targets, the development of policy for energy efficiency in industry as well as monitoring and evaluation to assess program impacts is becoming increasingly important. This paper contributes to this process through an in-depth understanding of PFE, and more broadly to voluntary agreements of similar kind

Energy management in Swedish pulp and paper industry - the daily grind that matters

The Swedish pulp and paper industry (PPI) accounts for almost 50 percent of industrial final energy use. It is an energy-intensive industry and process optimization is seen as prerequisite to compete on the global market. This alone should motivate company boards and on-site organisations to put energy management high on the agenda. Definitely, from time to time, energy issues (e.g. fuel shifts, selling of generation capacity, and more lately increasing auto-produced electricity) have been managed with respect to combined effects of policies and market forces. Yet, it was first after 2004 that the industry implemented energy management systems (EnMS), with particular focus on energy efficiency, and received certification according to the Swedish and later the European standard. This was required by the Programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE), a five-year voluntary agreement in which some 100 companies reported gross annual electricity savings of 1.45 TWh, equal to 5 percent of base year consumption. This result highlights the potential role of an EnMS in raising awareness and facilitating investments. In this paper we analyse the case of the Swedish PPI; its relation to energy issues in previous periods and the formalised EnMS practices of recent years. We pose the questions: How are standardised EnMS structured and put into practice? What are the measurable effects and other discernible outcomes? The results are based on in-depth interviews with energy management coordinators at eight pulp and paper mills. The experiences with EnMS are found to be predominantly positive. EnMS has changed organisational structures and created greater focus on energy efficiency, which has resulted in quantified energy savings. Considering that EnMS implementation and certification is at a pioneering stage and that the international ISO 50001 standard is currently being developed, these are important results for the future of EnMS in industry

Screening for low energy availability in male athletes : Attempted validation of LEAM-Q

A questionnaire-based screening tool for male athletes at risk of low energy availability (LEA) could facilitate both research and clinical practice. The present options rely on proxies for LEA such screening tools for disordered eating, exercise dependence, or those validated in female athlete populations. in which the female-specific sections are excluded. To overcome these limitations and support progress in understanding LEA in males, centres in Australia, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden collaborated to develop a screening tool (LEAM-Q) based on clinical investigations of elite and sub-elite male athletes from multiple countries and ethnicities, and a variety of endurance and weight-sensitive sports. A bank of questions was developed from previously validated questionnaires and expert opinion on various clinical markers of LEA in athletic or eating disorder populations, dizziness, thermoregulation, gastrointestinal symptoms, injury, illness, wellbeing, recovery, sleep and sex drive. The validation process covered reliability, content validity, a multivariate analysis of associations between variable responses and clinical markers, and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve analysis of variables, with the inclusion threshold being set at 60% sensitivity. Comparison of the scores of the retained questionnaire variables between subjects classified as cases or controls based on clinical markers of LEA revealed an internal consistency and reliability of 0.71. Scores for sleep and thermoregulation were not associated with any clinical marker and were excluded from any further analysis. Of the remaining variables, dizziness, illness, fatigue, and sex drive had sufficient sensitivity to be retained in the questionnaire, but only low sex drive was able to distinguish between LEA cases and controls and was associated with perturbations in key clinical markers and questionnaire responses. In summary, in this large and international cohort, low sex drive was the most effective self-reported symptom in identifying male athletes requiring further clinical assessment for LEA

Prevalence of surrogate markers of relative energy deficiency in male Norwegian Olympic-level athletes

The syndrome of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) includes wide-ranging effects on physiological and psychological functioning, performance, and general health. However, RED-S is understudied among male athletes at the highest performance levels. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate surrogate RED-S markers prevalence in Norwegian male Olympic-level athletes. Athletes (N=44) aged 24.7±3.8 years, body mass 81.3±15.9kg, body fat 13.7±5.8%, and training volume 76.1±22.9 hours/month, were included. Assessed parameters included resting metabolic rate (RMR), body composition, and bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and venous blood variables (testosterone, free triiodothyronine (fT3), cortisol and lipids). Seven athletes (16%) grouped by the presence of low RMR (RMRratio <-1) was found in 16% of the athletes, all with normal RMR. Subclinical low testosterone and fT3 levels were found in nine (25%) and two (5%) athletes, respectively. Subclinical high cortisol was found in 23% of athletes while 34% had elevated LDL cholesterol levels. Seven of twelve athletes with 2 or more RED-S markers had normal RMR. In conclusion, this study found that multiple RED-S markers also exist in male Olympic-level athletes. This highlights the importance of regular screening of male elite athletes, to ensure early detection and treatment of RED-S

Transcriptomics and adaptive genomics of the asymptomatic bacteriuria Escherichia coli strain 83972

Escherichia coli strains are the major cause of urinary tract infections in humans. Such strains can be divided into virulent, UPEC strains causing symptomatic infections, and asymptomatic, commensal-like strains causing asymptomatic bacteriuria, ABU. The best-characterized ABU strain is strain 83972. Global gene expression profiling of strain 83972 has been carried out under seven different sets of environmental conditions ranging from laboratory minimal medium to human bladders. The data reveal highly specific gene expression responses to different conditions. A number of potential fitness factors for the human urinary tract could be identified. Also, presence/absence data of the gene expression was used as an adaptive genomics tool to model the gene pool of 83972 using primarily UPEC strain CFT073 as a scaffold. In our analysis, 96% of the transcripts filtered present in strain 83972 can be found in CFT073, and genes on six of the seven pathogenicity islands were expressed in 83972. Despite the very different patient symptom profiles, the two strains seem to be very similar. Genes expressed in CFT073 but not in 83972 were identified and can be considered as virulence factor candidates. Strain 83972 is a deconstructed pathogen rather than a commensal strain that has acquired fitness properties