Energy Efficiency Assessments in Design – Seminal Decisions and Effective Processes

摘要

Energetics has been in the business of climate change for more than twenty years. Thisrnexperience has only served to cement the understanding that decisions taken during designrndefine the environmental and economic performance of any project. The 80-20 rule definitelyrnapplies, with 80% of a project's performance being set through the first 20% of designrndecisions.rnThis in depth knowledge is used for determining energy price forecasts, future carbonrnmarkets and carbon costs, current and future energy technologies, as well as giving arnthorough understanding of the processes and technologies in place in the mining industry tornwork out what the most carbon and energy sensitive decisions during design are.rnProject selection and design is a gated process where decisions are taken in line with therninformation available at that point in the evolution of the project. Design decisions are, byrntheir nature, dominated by uncertainty. In order to ensure that robust decisions are taken, itrnis necessary to ensure that the correct information is brought to bear at the correct decisionrnpoint. This then defines and supplies the necessary carbon and energy information forrndesign decisions to be correctly made.rnOne of the most significant risks facing design engineers and decision makers in the miningrnindustry is the future cost of energy. Part of this risk is associated with a future cost ofrncarbon, however, a significant part of this risk is the cost, and variability in this cost, of thernenergy itself. This paper investigates the information required to support good decisionrntaking during the design process.