ExxonMobil hails energy efficiency

ExxonMobil says it has identified opportunities to improve energy efficiency at its refineries and chemical plants by 15 to 20 percent through its Global Energy Management System.

The company's refining and chemical businesses have implemented more than half of these opportunities, with associated cost savings of approximately $750m per year, Energy Planning Advisor Dennis Stanley told participants at the International Engineered Fabrics Conference and Expo in Miami Beach.

He said, ‘As a result of these actions, we have avoided the emission of about eight million tons of associated greenhouse gases in 2006, which is roughly equivalent to removing 1.5 million cars from US roads.’

In his presentation, Stanley explained that participants could apply the ExxonMobil approach to improve their energy efficiency and environmental performance.

This includes identifying and evaluating energy savings opportunities; applying energy-use best practices at operating facilities; and implementing strong management systems to sustain the gains.

‘For example, installing a heat exchanger to recover waste heat can make a facility more energy efficient,’ said Stanley. ‘Regardless of the improvement, it is imperative to sustain it over the long haul, so an effective system of measurement is important. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.’

Energy is estimated to represent 10 percent or more of the total costs of the engineered fabrics sector. ‘This means that a 10 percent savings in the energy bill could yield a one percent or more reduction in total costs,’ added

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