Potential for reducing paper mill energy use and carbon dioxide emissions through plant-wide energy audits: A case study in China

• Published in: Applied energy 2013-02, Vol.102, p.1334-1342
• Main Authors: Kong, Lingbo, Price, Lynn, Hasanbeigi, Ali, Liu, Huanbin, Li, Jigeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution caused by fuel industries; Applied sciences; audits; carbon; Carbon dioxide; case studies; China; CO2 mitigation; Energy; Energy audit; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Energy efficiency; Energy management; Energy use; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; greenhouse gas emissions; Milla; Paper mill; Paper mills; Pollution reduction; pulp and paper industry; pulp and paper mills; Rational use of energy: conservation and recovery of energy
• ISSN: 0306-2619; 1872-9118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.07.013

► We audited a paper mill in China to reduce its energy use and CO2 emissions. ► The energy use and CO2 emissions of the mill and each paper machine are presented. ► The energy saving potential for the paper machine is estimated at 8–37%. ► The energy saving potential is 967.8TJ, equal to 14.4% of the mill’s energy use. ► The CO2 reduction potential is 93,453tonnes CO2 for the studied paper mill. The pulp and paper industry is one of the most energy-intensive industries worldwide. In 2007, it accounted for 5% of total global industrial energy consumption and 2% of direct industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An energy audit is a primary step toward improving energy efficiency at the facility level. This paper describes a plant-wide energy audit aimed at identifying energy conservation and CO2 mitigation opportunities at a paper mill in Guangdong province, China. We describe the energy audit methods, relevant Chinese standards, methods of calculating energy and carbon indicators, baseline energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the audited paper mill, and nine energy-efficiency improvement opportunities identified by the audit. For each of the nine options, we evaluate the energy conservation and associated CO2 mitigation potential. The total technical energy conservation potential for these nine opportunities is 967.8terajoules (TJ), and the total CO2 mitigation potential is equal to 93,453tonnes CO2 annually, representing 14.4% and 14.7%, respectively, of the mill’s total energy consumption and CO2 emissions during the audit period.