Energy Efficiency in The Wind & Innovative Systems

Energy efficiency need not always be achieved by new forms of technology. Innovative systems thinking will sometimes do the trick, says the Energy Studies Institute. When it comes to energy efficiency, engineers tend to focus on how much they can get from a resource – conversion – and more efficient use of the energy by the consumer at the other end. And the lack of strong wind in Singapore hasn’t stopped Vestas from expanding at the new, energy-efficient Mapletree Business City in Pasir Panjang.

By Catrina Yeo in The Straits Times (13 June 2011):

The writer is an energy analyst at the Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore.

Greater energy efficiency has been recognised as the most important weapon in the struggle to secure energy sources and battle climate change, but the debate over its potential still rages on.

The usual practice is to take an economic or engineering view of energy efficiency.

A typical engineer would calculate a higher energy efficiency potential than an economist, who would factor in cost. But this does not mean the engineer’s point of view is more accurate or less pragmatic than the economist’s. What is needed is a perspective of energy efficiency that considers the system as a whole.

Mainstream economists argue against a high energy efficiency potential on the basis of price-driven market forces which assume the market will automatically capture the benefits of cost-efficient actions.

Price does drive market forces, but not always. An energy market is an example of a large and complex system in which social and technical factors weaken the influence of price on decisions.

For example, in the early 1990s, Chicago was unable to reduce electricity consumption as much as Seattle even though its electricity tariff was twice as high. Seattle’s success was due to a conservation programme which increased awareness of energy efficiency.

On the other hand, engineers sometimes fall into the trap of their own expertise. They often lack a systemic view due to over-familiarity or over-specialisation. They tend to approach energy efficiency by zooming in on a component or activity, such as retro-fitting, which may not lead to overall improvement.

A system is more than the sum of its parts and component changes do not necessarily improve the whole.

To take a real example from industrial practice, power consumption can be cut without installing a more efficient or sophisticated pump in a heat-transfer pumping loop. It can be done simply by rearranging the pipelines and pumps.

Energy efficiency need not always be achieved by new forms of technology. Innovative systems thinking will sometimes do the trick.

When it comes to energy efficiency, engineers tend to focus on how much they can get from a resource – conversion – and more efficient use of the energy by the consumer at the other end. But these are concerns that target a specific component.

A broader approach would, for instance, try to remove the need for that energy in the first place.

Increasingly, in the area of transport energy efficiency, analysts are working to take vehicles, which will inevitably consume energy, out of the equation. This can be done via efficient urban planning that will enable people to get where they need to go without a vehicle. Why design something that is not needed in the first place, only to try to improve its efficiency later?

A systemic approach also applies to the timeframe of a project. Contrary to the popular faith in the law of diminishing returns, Dow Chemicals in Louisiana saved more energy in the later years of its efficiency efforts.

The potential of energy efficiency will always exist and it changes with its system’s dynamics. Energy-efficient targets should be seen not as numbers to be achieved but as a practice of continuous improvement that requires a view of the whole.

The Straits Times (16 June 2011): 

The possibility of rows of wind turbines on Singapore’s coast, rotating with the breeze while powering the city-state, need not be just a fancy idea blowing in the wind.

Singapore’s wind speeds are too weak to be converted to commercial wind energy but this could change as turbines get more efficient and are able to pick up wind energy at lower speeds, said Danish wind energy giant Vestas Wind System’s president of Asia Pacific, Mr Sean Sutton.

The lack of wind, however, has not stopped Vestas from expanding here. The firm, which set up in Singapore in 2006 with 20 employees, yesterday launched a hub at the new, energy-efficient Mapletree Business City in Pasir Panjang.

It was also Global Wind Day yesterday.

Vestas will house all its units – like research and development, and regional headquarters for sales and operations – on one floor at the business park.

Mr Sutton noted that Vestas here has grown into a busy firm employing more than 200 staff.

It is flying high on the booming wind-energy sector in Asia. Last year alone, it installed more than 1,000 megawatts (MWs) of wind energy capacity in Taiwan, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Asia makes up 22 per cent of revenue – a figure that is set to increase further, he said.

‘In many countries in Asia, wind energy is becoming as cheap as power generated from fossil fuels. In the past, we used to install small 10MW wind farms. Now, it’s in the region of 400MW or more,’ he added.

Singapore’s location serves the firm well because of its proximity to Asian markets and strong financial services and talent pool with qualified engineers.

Vestas recently signed an agreement with Nanyang Technological University to establish a Joint Materials Lab within the School of Materials Science and Engineering.

Vestas Asia Pacific managing director for technology R&D Peter Cheng said yesterday that both parties will collaborate on research into how composite materials used in aircraft can be best deployed in wind technology.

The R&D team at Vestas is also looking into the idea of wind power as a support system for power plants, and how weather forecasting can help wind-power operations, he added.

Source: www.greenbusinesstimes.com