Could wireless help kick-start an energy improvement program?
Industry studies tell us that leaders are achieving very significant results from establishing and maintaining energy improvement programs. A leader is typically lowering their energy cost in the range of 10-15% annually. Most laggards make no progress or don’t even know how they’re doing.
Starting an energy improvement program typically requires several elements, including dedicating personnel and establishing a process. Another key component is obtaining real data on current energy performance. Many sites don’t have the measurements needed to examine energy use (and improve on it) currently installed.
They say, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t save it.” An energy monitoring implementation can bring benefit such as:
- Identifying process and equipment malfunctions
- Recognizing waste going unnoticed or not addressed
- Finding waste never previously accounted for
- Helping to make production profitability decisions
- Documenting potential savings to drive improvement projects
Installing dozens of measurements around a plant/mill site to monitor energy performance can be pretty costly, however.
This is where wireless measurement technology may deliver some immediate large financial advantage. Reports are that energy measurement projects implemented with wireless technology are in the order of 1/3 the cost of those completed with traditional wired devices. This is a huge difference, and certainly improves the ROI picture for getting started with an energy improvement program.
Comments, any experience with comparing the cost of wireless versus wired technology for energy monitoring?
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Wireless will be driven by carbon cap and trade
Wireless will change the economics of energy monitoring and improvement programs by providing more cost effective information. Saving money is one incentive to reduce energy use. A companies reputation for being environmentally responsible is another. When carbon is capped and emissions are expensive, and a plants greenhouse gas footprint is publicly published and compared to similar plants, energy monitoring will increase exponentially, and wireless technology will be the only reasonable way to get the information.
There's also a big opportunity for profit. Company "A" is under their cap, and company "B" is over their cap. Company "B" can pay a big fine for exceeding their emissions cap, reduce throughput and miss customer commitments, shut down and experience all the extra costs of an unscheduled start-up, or buy some carbon credit from company "A". The profit potential for company "A" is large.
Think about the cost of electricity. Base load power is low cost. Fast response peak power is very expensive. My advise to every company that emits carbon is to do a wireless energy improvement project, and use the information to estimate carbon emissions. When cap and trade become reality you'll at least have the know-how to deal with it.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Regards
TomW
wireless in an energy improvement program
rpsabin : You are spot on. Wireless technologies stretches the possibilities in ANY project that run into financial or physical barriers.
The truth is very simple : Wireless technologies DO lower overall project costs significantly compared to a wired execution, it reduces project execution time and lowers the project uncertainty risks. Wireless does allow to place measurements physically there where wired cannot. Wireless technologies are proven and standardised.
The only limitation seems the creativity of project managers and facility managers.
So my question : why is the implementation of this technology so hesitant ?