Conceptualizing Energy Efficiency: A TechnoEconomic Approach

By : Vijayamohanan Pillai N., A.M. Narayanan

Page No: 327-335

Abstract
Conserving electrical energy through energy efficiency measures can meet the dual challenges of increasing energy demands at reasonable costs in a sustainable manner, and of reducing the environmental and health threats associated with the use of hydrocarbons, having the potential to encourage clean energy systems. The present paper seeks to document the technoeconomic conceptualization of energy efficiency as a prelude to a documentation of the analytical methods of its measurement, which we consider in another paper. Defining energy efficiency in the Patterson’s sense of useful output per unit of input leads us to define energy efficiency also as an increase in net benefits per unit of energy. This helps us differentiate between energy efficiency and energy conservation, which is an important complement to the former. It is possible to design and devise energy efficiency indicators at different levels of aggregation in a pyramidal structure, using the corresponding statistics, such as the international statistics for national level indicators, national economic statistics for various macro-sectoral indicators and so on down to the most disaggregated micro level data on individual plant for the corresponding operational units. It is generally believed that energy consumption at any level of aggregation is essentially determined by three effects, viz., activity, structure and intensity. The paper presents a detailed illustration of this for the bottom micro-level sectors, as well as a conceptual framework that can be followed in an empirical exercise.

Authors :
Vijayamohanan Pillai N : Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
A.M. Narayanan : Energy Management Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/PROD.2020.61.03.7