ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES IN THE U.S. PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

摘要

The U.S. pulp and paper industry consumes overrn$7 billion worth of purchased fuels andrnelectricity per year. Energy efficiencyrnimprovement is an important way to reduce theserncosts and to increase predictable earnings,rnespecially in times of high energy pricernvolatility. There are a variety of opportunitiesrnavailable at individual plants in the U.S. pulp andrnpaper industry to reduce energy consumption in arncost-effective manner. This paper provides arnbrief overview of the new U.S. EPA ENERGYrnSTAR~R for Industry energy efficiency guidebookrn(a.k.a. the “Energy Guide”) for pulp and paperrnmanufacturers. The Energy Guide discusses arnwide range of energy efficiency practices andrnenergy-efficient technologies that can bernimplemented at the component, process, facility,rnand organizational levels. Also provided is arndiscussion of the trends, structure, and energyrnconsumption characteristics of the U.S. pulp andrnpaper industry along with a description of thernmajor process technologies used within thernindustry. Many energy efficiency measurerndescriptions include expected savings in energyrnand energy-related costs, based on case studyrndata from real-world applications in pulp andrnpaper mills and related industries worldwide.rnThe information in this Energy Guide is intendedrnto help energy and plant managers in the U.S.rnPulp and paper industry reduce energyrnconsumption in a cost-effective manner whilernmaintaining the quality of productsrnmanufactured. Further research on therneconomics of all measures-as well as on theirrnapplicability to different production practices-isrnneeded to assess their cost effectiveness atrnindividual plants.