Plant Services - January 2008 - (Page 54) energy eXPerT 2008: The year of energy integration? Combining forces leads to breakthroughs in energy productivity text of some year-end reflections was the visit we made on he start of a new year is a time to reflect on the past the third day to the Gersthofen Industrial Park near Augsand look into the future. This is a particularly interburg in Bavaria. An integrated past is ever-present at the inesting time for energy. In 2007, we’ve seen a growdustrial site, founded in 1900 by Hoechst to take advantage ing awareness of the crucial and rising impact of energy seof integrating run-of-river hydroelectricity with canal transcurity, cost and pollution to the success of our companies, portation. During the past century, it has evolved into an our economy and our communities. industrial park home to 12 companies and facilities. Rather While this visibility is a welcome change, much of the curthan each of these facilities being an independent “energy rent energy discussion is disjointed and has shades of “magic island,” Gersthofen Park gives us a glimpse of benefits that bullet” thinking. It focuses on isolated actions and technolocan be gained by energy integration. gies, and rarely captures the benefits of integration discussed so many times in this Energy services are provided by a dedicolumn. When companies, communities cated company all the factories use. This recommendations… company, an affiliate of MVV Energie, the and even entire countries or regions conare rewarded with sciously put together programs to educate city utility in Mannheim, provides eleccash payments. and reward people and implement end-use tricity and gas, as well as process steam, efficiency measures, heat recovery, efficient heating, compressed air, oxygen, water energy distribution and lower-carbon fuel and wastewater along with security, site choices, the results are breakthroughs in energy productivity. rail transportation and other services. The high level of inThese breakthroughs fundamentally change the economic, tegration results in lower costs, reduced pollution and greater political and environmental playing field for energy. reliability. It also is easier to adapt the service mix to accommodate changing end-user needs and available technologies. In the industrial context, one of the most obvious areas Duplication of equipment and staff is minimized. is heat recovery. I never fail to be amazed by the frequent Efficiency also is part of the offering, with tenants and the assumption that the massive amounts of heat produced as service company meeting regularly to review and implement byproducts of industrial processes and generating electricity recommendations from any of the 1,600 employees or 12 are nothing more than waste products to be eliminated with companies. These are rewarded with cash equal to at least 10% costly cooling towers using vast amounts of valuable water. of the annual savings for the individuals or teams concerned. One of my industrial clients has declared 2008 to be the year when heat recovery will be a major strategic focus, recThis level of integration doesn’t happen by chance. It reognizing the value of the millions of dollars wasted on valuquires a slew of changes in management attitude, utility and able fuel. A group of senior operational managers from the municipal regulation, acceptance of new operating practices United States and Europe recently gathered in Germany, a and implementing unfamiliar technical approaches. This country that has long recognized the value of heat recovery 100-year-old industrial site has evolved from a late 19th to a in both industry and community. In a couple of days, they 21st century example of the clear benefits of energy integrawere updated on different heat-recovery strategies, technoltion, and remains globally competitive. ogies and management approaches. By the end of the two Industrial energy productivity strategies will increasingly days, the group not only had gained some new knowledge, demand the rational integration of efficiency, heat recovery, cobut developed a lengthy list of possible heat-recovery and generation, renewable and traditional energy sources in a single cogeneration actions that collectively will save a significant seamless approach. Will 2008 be the year when you accelerate amount of money. Heat recovery strategies generally also the implementation of these approaches in your plants? create over-proportional reductions of greenhouse gases, a major factor in an increasingly carbon-conscious world. Peter Garforth is principal of Garforth International LLC, Toledo, What mainly caused me to think of this event in the conOhio. He can be reached at garforthp@cs.com. 54 www.PLANTSERVICES.com January 2008 T http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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