How Do We Learn about Drivers for Industrial Energy Efficiency—Current State of Knowledge

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 7; p. 2642
• Main Authors: Smith, Kelly M., Wilson, Stephen, Lant, Paul, Hassall, Maureen E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Cost control; Cost reduction; drivers; Emissions; Energy efficiency; Energy gap; Energy management; frontline workers; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Industrial energy; industry; Literature reviews; Payback periods; Pulp & paper industry; Research methodology; Systematic review; Taxonomy; Sweden
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en15072642

Drivers for industrial energy efficiency are factors that promote the sustained adoption of energy-efficient measures and practices. Leveraging drivers to overcome barriers and encourage action which improves industrial energy efficiency can contribute to closing the energy efficiency gap. In fossil-fuel-based systems, this will also contribute to greenhouse gas abatement. A systematic literature review was used to investigate how knowledge about drivers is generated and whether prevalent drivers can be mapped to existing taxonomies. The systematic literature review confirmed that surveys and/or interviews with managers from countries who are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are the most common way to gather data on drivers for industrial energy efficiency. This means the extant knowledge on drivers may be incomplete because contributions from some stakeholders, industry types and company sizes may be missing. The review also found economic drivers are the most prevalent and that not all the drivers identified during the study can be mapped to contemporary driver taxonomies. Having an agreed-upon comprehensive taxonomy facilitates empirical research and comparison of studies. Further research into the views of frontline workers and the creation of a comprehensive driver taxonomy is recommended.