Soaring energy prices and concern about climate change from man-made emissions of carbon dioxide have propelled energy efficiency to the top of the agenda in the boardroom, in public debate and in public policy. This portal provides an overview of the challenges, how governments are tackling them and the ABB solutions already at hand.
Businesses and governments have strong incentives to use energy more efficiently. The surging price of oil in recent years is being sustained by demand from rapidly developing countries including China, India and Brazil.
Rising standards of living in these countries and the creation of global markets is also exposing companies to more competition and raising pressure on them to increase productivity and lower costs.
In addition, concern about global warming and quality of life has prompted governments around the world to clamp down on pollution, making businesses in many countries pay a penalty for their emissions of carbon dioxide.
The forecasts
Global energy needs and the related emissions of gases held responsible for global warming will be 45 percent higher in 2030 than today on current trends, driven by economic growth in the developing world, according to the International Energy Agency. World electricity use is expected to rise 80 percent in the same period, the IEA says.
The earth’s average surface temperature will probably rise by 1.8 to 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the latest major report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in February 2007. The panel’s worst-case scenario predicts a global temperature increase of 6.4 degrees.
Government reaction
As a result of warnings like these, governments have started taking action. Many policies laying down minimum standards for energy efficiency are already in place around the world and laws are being tightened further.
China, for instance, adopted a development plan for the five years through 2010 that calls for a 20 percent reduction in the amount of energy used per unit of gross domestic product (GDP). China is the world's second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the U.S.
The European Union in 2007 agreed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.
ABB's solutions
ABB started its formal environmental management program after signing the International Chamber of Commerce's Business Charter for Sustainable Development in 1991. Since 1998, ABB has been focusing on the resource and energy efficiency of its products over their entire life cycles, including the years spent in operation, and now has independently verified Environmental Product Declarations for its main products in all business areas.
ABB's energy efficient products, systems, solutions and services help customers produce and deliver more goods and power for each unit of energy they use. Some examples from the ABB product portfolio include drives and motors, power transmission technologies and factory control systems.
Drives and motors
Variable speed drives regulate the operation of electric motors, and save energy by matching the output of motor-driven pumps, fans, conveyors and similar equipment with the actual demand of the systems they support.
ABB calculates that its variable speed drives installed globally eliminate more than 100 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, roughly equivalent to the emissions of 41 million cars on the streets of Europe.
Coutts & Co., a London-based private bank, cut its energy bill for running the air-conditioning system by 90 percent after installing four variable speed drives.
ABB’s high efficiency motors are big energy savers because, irrespective of size, motors normally consume their own capital cost in energy after 30 days of continuous operation.
ABB has also developed a fuel-efficient podded propulsion system for ships, the Azipod, which is fitted outside the vessel, can revolve 360 and functions as a combined rubber and motor. ShinNihonkai Ferry, Japan's leading ferry operator, reported fuel savings of 20 percent and 15 percent more transportation capacity on two vessels fitted with Azipod propulsion systems in 2004.
Energy distribution
Even the movement of energy itself can be made more efficient. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology, invented by ABB more than 50 years ago, transports electricity over long distances using fewer cables and with much lower electricity losses than conventional alternating current technology.
HVDC also makes it possible to link one power grid to another safely and cost effectively. Norway and the Netherlands, for example, have linked their grids with ABB technology to allow the Dutch to import hydropower from Norway during the day when demand is high. HVDC is also boosting the development of wind power in the Netherlands by compensating for the power fluctuations caused by generating energy from wind.
ABB engineers can now build ultra high-voltage links that will make it viable to produce electricity in remote regions of China, India, Brazil and Africa where vast hydropower resources remain untapped. These energy "superhighways" will efficiently transmit electricity to the urban and industrial areas where it is needed.
Control systems
ABB also makes software and control systems that help power plants operate more efficiently, as well as factories in industries ranging from pulp and paper to cement to pharmaceuticals. They regulate the equipment in plants and factories to ensure it runs at optimum speed, produces consistent high quality and can forecast maintenance as needed.
As an example, ABB’s advanced control and optimization system for coal-fuelled power plants optimizes combustion while reducing hazardous emissions of nitrogen oxides. Restarting a power plant after a production stop is a complicated process. ABB’s automated information technology solution typically reduces the fuel consumption during start-up by 10 percent.
Energy savings can be multiplied by combining control systems, high efficiency motors and variable speed drives.