Directive Replacement - The European IED (Industrial Emissions directive) was published in January 2011. This replaces the former IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention Control) directive. Directive 2010/75/EU, concerning Industrial Emissions (IED), merges the existing directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament concerning IPPC, with six industrial-sector specific directives, into a single directive for the clarification and simplification of existing provisions.

The directive establishes a general framework for the control of principal industrial activities with a view to controlling emissions arising from industrial installations into air, water and soil. A key element of the directive rules that installations should operate only if they hold a permit or, in certain cases, if they are registered. IED follows the concept of best available techniques (BAT).

Completing the link between energy efficiency and carbon emissions saw the announcement on June 22 of the proposed EU directive on energy efficiency. This will now go into a consultation period. However, its proposals are wide ranging from the power generation and distribution industry through retail customers, energy efficient buildings to industrial energy consumers. The drive behind this directive is that, on current performance, the EU is unlikely to reach its previously announced 20-20-20 targets (a reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20 % below 1990 levels, 20 % of EU energy consumption to come from renewable resources and a 20 % reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels, to be achieved by improving energy efficiency, all by 2020).

Clearly while many BATs will be sector specific, the common strand throughout will be the adoption of a systematic approach to energy management. This is a universal concept and likely to be the backbone of any permit to operate. The proposed energy efficiency directive specifically mentions the adoption of energy management systems for SMEs and regular energy auditing of large industrial complexes. This paper looks at the implications and requirements and in particular how modern measurement and control technology play a key role in being able to achieve the aspirations of the BATs.

What the Directives Mean to the Site Operator

Individual EU Member States will develop their own permit and licence to operate systems within the aims of the directives.

However, given the diversity of industrial sectors and the prominence given in the BATs, energy management systems will become the framework under the licence to operate. In an analogous way to quality management, they provide an auditable structure for both compliance and improvement, defining what is the appropriate process for managing "energy" for the site/installation in question.

The drivers behind energy performance are many and varied - in most cases there is no single issue or cause which can be tackled in isolation. Hence the topic is ideally suited to a systems management approach which drives a culture of management responsibility, process measurement, problem identification, corrective action and improvement. This can be seen in the International and European standards for Energy Management, (BS) ISO 50001.

Thus high-quality process measurement, data management, control and reporting form the foundation for any successful systematic energy management. Many aspects will be cross-discipline - maintenance (asset management) as well as operational (process control and optimisation). Energy efficiency is affected by phenomena on many time frames - long term equipment efficiency as well as real-time minute-by-minute plant performance. Thus the growth of modern plant systems, with integrated cross-site and multi-level databases, provides the ideal foundation for the development of solutions to such a multi-level problem.

The Key BAT

The important BAT is the EU reference document ENE. Its purpose "is to provide general indications about energy efficiency techniques that can be considered as the appropriate reference point to assist the determination of a BAT-based permit...."

The document, some 400 pages long, is a comprehensive résumé of good practice, covering steam systems, electricity, combustions, compressed air, HVAC and many other important areas of common operation.

However, right from the start, the executive summary stresses the importance of a formal systematic management approach to energy efficiency and its applicability to all types of installation. In its summary it specifically mentions:

• Benchmarking.
• Checking performance and taking corrective action, paying particular attention to monitoring and measurement.
• Appropriate use of energy models, databases and balances.
• Establishing and reviewing energy efficiency objectives and indicators.