Energy saving options for industrial furnaces - the example of the glass industry

In the industrial sector approximately 30 % of the fuels used are consumed by furnaces. On top of that, 10 % of the industrial electricity demand is used in furnaces. Prior studies on industrial furnaces and ovens have concluded that potential for efficiency improvements lie between 10 and 40 % depending on the sector and the application. Within our paper we will describe an approach to assess the future energy demand of industrial furnaces. In addition, the corresponding CO2-emissions and saving potentials will be determined. The timeframe of our analysis is from 2015 to 2030 considering the EU-28 countries and Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. To show the application of our methodology, we will present the glass sector as a case study. There, we will analyse the saving options corresponding to the furnaces used in glassmaking processes. For the purpose of our study we have built a proprietary bottom-up simulation model for energy demand. We will present the underlying methodology and data of our modelling approach. The dataset represents a detailed representation of the EUs glass production sites. Therefore, we are able to model the diffusion of the efficiency technologies on a site level. In parallel, we will present an approach to derive a dataset from sources like the ETS register. Finally, we will present the results of our modelling approach and discuss the potential impacts of energy efficiency technologies in the glass sector. Furthermore we will show the transferability of our approach to other sectors.