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An energy efficient Swedish pulp and paper industry – exploring barriers to and driving forces for cost-effective energy efficiency investments

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Abstract

Despite the need for increased industrial energy efficiency, studies indicate that cost-effective energy efficiency measures are not always implemented, which is explained by the existence of barriers to energy efficiency. This paper investigates whether this holds for the Swedish pulp and paper industry, and if so, investigates the barriers inhibiting and the driving forces stressing cost-effective energy efficiency investments. By so, this case study covers about 2% of the EU-25 industrial end-use of energy. The overall results from a questionnaire show that there is an energy efficiency gap in the sector and that the largest barriers were technical risks such as risk of production disruptions, cost of production disruption/hassle/inconvenience, technology inappropriate at the mill, lack of time and other priorities, lack of access to capital, and slim organization. As regards the driving forces for energy efficiency, the highest ranked driving forces were cost reductions resulting from lower energy use, people with real ambition, long-term energy strategy, the threat of rising energy prices, the electricity certificate system, the PFE. The results show that many of the barriers and driving forces were not solely market-related, e.g., lack of time or other priorities, slim organization, other priorities for capital investments, lack of staff awareness, and long decision chains indicate that firm-specific barriers plays an important role. These barriers may not be overcome by market-related public policy instruments but is rather a consequence of how the energy issue is organized within the firms. The second and the third largest driving forces, people with real ambition and a long-term energy strategy further support this.

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Notes

  1. For an overview of the debate regarding energy efficiency and its impact, please see Geller and Attali (2005).

  2. A cost-effective energy conservation measure is defined as an investment which lowers the use of energy and which is considered cost-effective according to the Mill’s investment criteria.

  3. Like Schleich and Gruber (2007), this paper investigates energy-efficient investments in general and does not focus on a single technology.

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Acknowledgments

The work has been carried out under the auspices of the Energy System Programme, which is financed by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and the Swedish Energy Agency. We kindly thank the respondents at the studied mills for giving freely their time to answer the questionnaire. We would also like to thank Jörgen Persson, Johanna Jönsson, and Thore Berntsson of Chalmers University of Technology and Patrik Rohdin, Mats Söderström, Mats Bladh, and Jonas Anshelm of Linköping University for valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.

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  1. Department of Management and Engineering, Division of Energy Systems, Linköping University, SE-581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Patrik Thollander

  2. Department of Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, SE-581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Mikael Ottosson

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  1. Patrik Thollander
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  2. Mikael Ottosson
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Correspondence to Patrik Thollander.

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Thollander, P., Ottosson, M. An energy efficient Swedish pulp and paper industry – exploring barriers to and driving forces for cost-effective energy efficiency investments. Energy Efficiency 1, 21–34 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-007-9001-7

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