Perspectives on performance and policy in industry – Environmental and quality concerns to enhance energy efficiency

• Energy efficiency in industry has been a priority in Chinese policy and planning for more than twenty years. Great achievements in this area have been made. Still, in many cases a considerable potential for improved industrial energy efficiency remains, not least in terms of enhancement of technical capacity. Cement production is one sector where this is evident. Policies have been devised to address this issue and to raise performance within the industry in an extensive market-transforming effort. Among the most forceful in their intended effects are policies banning certain production technologies, and the decreed closures of badly performing plants. In many cases, however, compliance with such policies falters. Alongside energy efficiency and technical capacity there are other industrial goals. Three conceivable goals in cement production, concurring with energy efficiency are, on the one hand, improving the grade (quality) of cement produced, and, on the other, the environmental challenges of reducing local air pollution and mitigating climate change. Policies and instruments to promote such objectives might help boost performance in energy efficiency, but careful policy design is important. Whereas improving overall cement grades and curbing pollution are recognised as worthwhile objectives by many actors within China's cement sector, very few relate cement production to climate issues. From this vantage-point, the current paper analyses the present situation in China to examine how different policies and instruments that target grade, pollution, and climate may or may not affect future performance of the country's cement industry.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Energisystem (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Energy Systems (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Cement

policy

produktkvalitet

teknikanvändning

utsläppsövervakning

China

product quality

technology deployment

climate change

energy efficiency

marknadsomvandling

Kina

klimatförändring

market transformation

energieffektivitet

emissions monitoring

Publication and Content Type

kon (subject category)

ref (subject category)