Volume 24: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part VII

Are Energy Efficiency Improvements Always the Most Cost-Effective Investments? Ralph Luken, Anita Susani, Abu Saieed, Oliver Charles

Abstract

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) implemented the Mediterranean Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology (MED/TEST) Phase II in the Southern Mediterranean Region between 2016 and 2018. This paper reports the findings of resource efficiency demonstrations with 58 companies in three North African countries (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). The paper draws on the findings of Material Flow Cost Accounting that estimates the full costs of energy, water and rawmaterials used in production processes, and of Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production Assessments that identify feasible and cost-effective interventions. The combination of these two tools allows for a comparison of the payback periods of a full range of potential resource efficiencymeasures.Not surprisingly, there are severalwater and raw materials measuresthat havereturns on investment similar to those for energymeasures.

Keywords Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Raw Materials Efficiency, Industry, North Africa