Success factors of energy management in energy-intensive industries : energy performance measurement

Abstract

This thesis explores energy performance measurement in support of energy management in the energy-intensive industries. In general, performance measurement is used in management for raising awareness, evaluating performance, setting targets and offering decision support. These purposes also apply to energy management, defined here as the management of all activities related to the economic and responsible use of energy in an organisation. This thesis answers the following three questions: 1) what is the concept of energy performance in a business organisation? 2) what is the importance of energy performance measurement to energy management in the energy-intensive industries? and 3) what are the subsequent needs for future research and development? A variety of methods are used, ranging from qualitative research to the modelling of energy systems and case demonstrations. The findings indicate that energy management should focus on improving energy performance, not energy efficiency, because this broader view is able to capture both the operational and strategic perspectives of energy management. This is in line with the trends of managerial integration and the adoption of sustainable development into management practice. The domain of energy performance indicators should entail organisational, systemic and temporal dimensions. From the perspective of operational management, performance measurement should address all the three means to improve energy performance, namely technology, operation and process integration. In addition to the operational management, future research and development should define the role of energy performance measurement in all the other management functions. These recommendations provide a wide spectrum of opportunities for the development of energy performance indicators, energy performance measurement systems and their underlying deployment processes in different industrial sectors, organisations and systems.