Assessing energy optimization potential in chemical process industries using energy management maturity matrix as strategic tool

Sustainable use of energy acts as a catalyst to propel the progress of industry towards sustainability and economic prosperity of the nation. The increased reliance on conventional energy resources and its impact on climate change necessitates development of business strategies for its sustainable usage. Businesses are facing substantial pressure to augment the energy efficiency of their operations and to seamlessly integrate energy management within their facilities. Some industries in India are proactively leveraging their available resources and cost-effective measures to optimize their energy systems for sustainable industrial development. However, numerous process industries, grappling with limited resources and intense competition, encounter heightened challenges on the path to energy optimization. This paper focuses on the development of a conceptual framework to assess the energy optimization potential of process industries in India, focusing on their energy management policies and processes, and the realization of benefits from energy optimization, after analyzing gaps from an exhaustive literature review. Further the framework helped in development of Energy Management Maturity Matrix (EMMM) for the process industries in India, which is used as a tool to analyze and assess the energy optimizing potential based on the current energy systems of process industries. The primary data was collected using an exploratory survey conducted among process industries through in-depth interviews using structured questionnaire, which provided insightful findings, enriching our understanding of current energy practices in process industries and the energy conservation measures they employ which are discussed in the paper. The responses of the survey were analyzed and mapped with the EMMM that segregates the firms based on the obtained scores. The energy optimization potential of the firms were also calculated indicating the capacity for improvement within the company's energy management systems. The findings of this paper helps to understand the existing status of surveyed process industries and comprehend the tapped potential toward energy optimization along with identification of untapped potential to be harnessed in future and emphasize the need to treat energy as strategically vital to business.