Research Below
are brief summaries of current
ERSAL research projects.
For more information on these
projects, please email eric.masanet@northwestern.edu
and/or see the representative
publications listed below each
project summary. For a
full list of ERSAL publications,
click here.
Supply
chain energy efficiency:
What's the potential?
Original
equipment
manufacturers (OEMs)
have great leverage
to enable energy
efficiency
improvements in
their supply chains
through incentives,
technical support,
and green
procurement
strategies.
For many products,
however, supply
chains can be
distant and complex.
ERSAL researchers
are developing a
public-use model --
the supply chain
analysis (SCAN)
model -- that makes
energy efficiency
opportunities
visible to OEMs
across extended
supply chains at the
process and
technology
level. The
SCAN model combines
input-output and
techno-economic
modeling techniques
to estimate which
suppliers might
reduce their energy
use and emissions,
through which
specific
technologies, and at
what cost. The
model will enable
OEMs to identify the
most fruitful
targets for energy
efficiency
initiatives among
their suppliers, and
to strategically
select the
initiatives that
lead to the greatest
energy use
reductions at the
least cost.
Representative
publications:
Masanet,
E., Matthews,
H.S., Carlson,
D., and A.
Horvath
(2011).
Retail
Climate Change
Mitigation:
Life-Cycle
Emission and
Energy
Efficiency
Labels and
Standards.
California Air
Resources
Board,
Sacramento,
California.
Masanet, E., Kramer, K.J.,
Homan, G., Brown, R., and E. Worrell
(2009). "Assessment of Supply Chain
Energy Efficiency Potentials: A U.S.
Case Study." Proceedings of the
2009 IEEE International Symposium on
Sustainable Systems and Technologies,
Tempe, Arizona, IEEE.
Masanet,
E., K.J.
Kramer,
G.Homan, R.E.
Brown, and E.
Worrell
(2009). Assessment
of Household
Carbon
Footprint
Reduction
Potentials.
California
Energy
Commission,
PIER-Energy-Related
Environmental
Research
Program.
CEC-500-2009-072.
Sathaye,
J.A.,
Lecocq, F., Masanet, E., Najam, A.,
Schaeffer, R., Swart, R., and H.
Winkler (2009). “Opportunities to Change
Development Pathways Towards Lower
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Energy
Efficiency.” Journal of Energy
Efficiency, Volume 2, Number 4.
Improving cap and
trade approaches
for industry
In 2013, California
became the first
state in the nation
to implement a
cap and trade
system for
reducing
greenhouse gas
emissions in its
manufacturing
sector.
ERSAL researchers
are partnering with
UC Berkeley and
Ecofys (NL) to
develop
product-based
benchmarks for the
provision of
emissions allowances
to California plants
under the cap and
trade law. In
collaboration with
manufacturers and
policy makers, our
team is developing
mathematical
approaches for
estimating the
emissions associated
with discrete
products within
complex production
environments, which
requires rigorous
analysis of mass and
energy flows and
exchanges among
production
processes. The
results will enable
California policy
makers to better
consider real-world
production
variations, and to
use best available
data and science,
when calculating
product-based
emissions allowances
moving forward.
Quantifying
the benefits of advanced manufacturing
Next-generation
manufacturing
processes hold great
promise for reducing
societal energy use
and environmental
impacts. Examples
include advanced
composites for
lightweight
vehicles,
high-strength
materials for more
durable goods and
structures, and
nano-materials for
energy applications.
Rigorous,
prospective
assessment of the
potential
environmental and
economic
implications of such
technologies is
critical for
informing early
decisions on
RD&D
investments, policy
incentives, and
initial target
markets, all of
which can help usher
advanced
manufacturing
technologies through
the "valley of
death." Such
assessments are
particularly
challenging given
that environmental
and economic
benefits are often
accrued in other
economic sectors
(e.g., advanced
composites will save
energy in
transportation, but
not necessarily in
manufacturing),
which can create
misalignment of
incentives. ERSAL
researchers are
developing
prospective systems
modeling approaches
to help address
these challenges,
based on a
combination of
input-output,
techno-economic, and
life-cycle modeling
methods.
Representative
publications:
Sathre, R., and
E. Masanet (2013). “Prospective
Life-cycle Modeling of a CCS System
Using Metal-Organic Frameworks for CO2
Capture.” Royal Society of
Chemistry (RSC) Advances. In
press.
DeForest,
N., Shehabi, A., Garcia, G.,
Greenblatt, J., Masanet, E.,
Lee., E.S., Selkowitz, S., and
D.J. Milliron (2013).
“Developing Regional
Performance Targets for
Transparent Electrochromic
Window Glazings.” Building
and Environment. In
press.
Sathre,
R., and E. Masanet (2012). “Energy and
Climate Implications of CCS Deployment
Strategies in the US Coal-fired
Electricity Fleet.” Environmental
Science & Technology. In
press.
Sathre R, Chester M, Cain J, Masanet
E. (2012). "A framework for
environmental assessment of CO2
capture and storage systems." Energy
- The International Journal.
37(1): 540-548.
Net energy analysis of
data center services
The
growing energy
use of data
centers, and
their
associated
emissions of
greenhouse
gases and air
pollutants, is
a topic that
has received
much attention
in both the
public media
and the
scientific
research
community.While
the energy
requirements
of data
centers are
indeed
significant, a
singular focus
on their
direct energy
use ignores
the
(potentially
much larger)
indirect
societal
energy and
environmental
benefits that
data centers
and
cloud-based
services might
provide
through
improved
macro-economic
energy and
resource
efficiencies.
Currently,
information on
the negative
implications
of data
services far
outweighs
information on
their
(potentially
vast) positive
implications.
ERSAL is
partnering
with Lawrence
Berkeley
National
Laboratory to
address this
information
gap. Our
team is
developing a
scientifically
rigorous,
open-access
approach for
assessing the
net energy and
emissions
benefits of
cloud services
in different
regions and at
different
levels of
market
adoption.Our goal is to provide credible,
science-based
results in
metrics that
are useful for
both public
and private
decisions, and
in a software
platform that
is
open for
further use
and refinement
by the
business,
policy, IT,
and scientific
communities.
Representative
publications:
Masanet, E., Shehabi, A.,
and J.G. Koomey (2013).
“Characteristics of Low-Carbon
Data Centers.” Nature Climate
Change. In press.
Masanet, E., Brown, R.E.,
Shehabi, A., Koomey, J.G., and B.
Nordman (2011). “Estimating the Energy
Use and Efficiency Potential of U.S.
Data Centers. Proceedings
of the IEEE, Volume 99,
Number 8.
Shehabi,
A., Masanet, E., Price, H., Traber,
K., Horvath, A., and W.W. Nazaroff.
(2011). “Data Center Design and
Location: Consequences for Electricity
Use and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions.” Building
and Environment, Volume 46,
Issue 5.
Brown, R., Masanet, E., Nordman, B.,
Tschudi, W., Shehabi, A., Stanley, J.,
Koomey, J., Sartor, D., Chan, P.,
Loper, J., Capana, S., Hedman, B.,
Duff, R., Haines, E., Sass, D., and A.
Fanara. (2007). Report to Congress
on Server and Data Center Energy
Efficiency: Public Law 109-431. Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley, California. LBNL-363E.
The energy-water nexus
and industrial
steam
The rising price of water,
increasing water scarcity, and growing
demand for environmental transparency
have led to increased interest in water
efficiency in the U.S manufacturing
sector. One critical but often
overlooked opportunity for reducing
industrial water use is to improve the
efficiency of ubiquitous steam
systems---improvements that can also
save significant amounts of
energy. ERSAL researchers are
developing a thermodynamic energy-water
nexus model that estimates steam system
makeup water demand based on boiler fuel
use, operating pressures and
temperatures, blowdown cycles, leak
rates, and direct process steam
injections in major U.S. industrial
subsectors. The model can be used
to identify opportunities for combined
energy and water savings at the plant
level, and for evaluating industrial
water efficiency incentives at the
national level.
Representative
publications:
Masanet,
E.,
and M.E. Walker
(2013).
"Energy-Water
Efficiency and
U.S.
Industrial
Steam."
Forthcoming.
Energy efficient
technology
assessment for
U.S. industry
ERSAL staff
research and
author energy
efficiency
improvement
guidebooks for
various U.S.
industrial
subsectors in
support of the U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency's ENERGY
STAR for
Industry program.
This research
characterizes a
wide variety of
energy efficiency
opportunities
applicable to U.S.
manufacturing
plants. The
guidebooks are
used by energy
managers to
identify areas for
energy efficiency
improvements, to
evaluate potential
energy improvement
options, to
develop action
plans and
checklists for
plant-level energy
management, and to
educate company
employees on the
importance of and
actions for
improved energy
efficiency.
Guidebooks
published to date
can be accessed here.
Representative
publications:
Masanet,
E., P. Therkelsen and E.
Worrell (2012). Energy
Efficiency Improvement and
Cost Saving Opportunities
for the Baking Industry: An
ENERGY STAR® Guide for
Energy and Plant Managers.
Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, Berkeley,
California. LBNL-6112E.
Brush, A., E. Masanet, and E. Worrell
(2011). Energy Efficiency Improvement
and Cost Saving Opportunities for the
Dairy Industry: An ENERGY STAR® Guide
for Energy and Plant Managers.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California.
Kermeli, K., E. Worrell, and E.
Masanet (2011). Energy Efficiency
Improvement and Cost Saving
Opportunities for the Concrete
Industry: An ENERGY STAR® Guide for
Energy and Plant Managers. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California.
Worrell, E., P. Blinde, M. Neelis, E.
Blomen, and E. Masanet (2010). Energy
Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving
Opportunities for the Iron and Steel
Industry: An ENERGY STAR® Guide for
Energy and Plant Managers. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California.
LBNL-4779E.
Kramer, K.J., E. Masanet, E. Worrell,
and T. Xu (2009). Energy Efficiency
Improvement and Cost Saving
Opportunities for the Pulp and Paper
Industry: An ENERGY STAR® Guide for
Energy and Plant Managers. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California. LBNL-2268E.
Neelis, M., Worrell, E., and E.
Masanet (2008). Energy Efficiency
Improvement and Cost Saving
Opportunities for the Petrochemical
Industry: An ENERGY STAR® Guide for
Energy and Plant Managers. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, California. LBNL-964E.
Masanet, E., E. Worrell, and
C. Galitsky (2008).
Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost
Saving Opportunities for the Fruit and
Vegetable Processing Industry: An
ENERGY STAR® Guide for Energy and
Plant Managers. Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, Berkeley,
California. LBNL-59289-Revision.
Life-cycle analysis of shale
gas production
in China
China has significant
shale gas resources and has recently
launched shale gas exploration and
drilling in trial development zones.
However, the potential energy and
environmental impacts of shale gas
production in China are not yet fully
understood. To address this
knowledge gap, ERSAL researchers are
developing a hybrid life cycle inventory
model that combines process and
input-output based methods for
estimating the ‘shale-to-well’ energy
use, resource use, and emissions of
shale gas production in China. The
research aims to shed light on the
potential environmental impacts of a
large-scale shift from coal to shale gas
in China, and to identify opportunities
for reducing these impacts moving
forward.
Representative
publications:
Chang, Y., Huang, R.,
Ries,
R., and E.
Masanet (2013). "Shale-to-well
environmental
analysis of shale
gas production in
China."
Forthcoming.
Materials efficiency in
U.S. industry
Materials
efficiency has
been shown to
have
significant
potential for
GHG emissions
reductions by
"doing more
with less;"
however, this
strategy has
been largely
overlooked in
current policy
incentives
given the way
that
industrial GHG
emissions
reductions are
accounted for
and
rewarded.
To address
this problem,
ERSAL
researchers
are developing
a modeling
approach to
highlight the
potential for
societal GHG
emissions
reductions
through
materials
efficiency in
different U.S.
industrial
subsectors.
The model uses
input-output
life-cycle
assessment
techniques to
identify
subsectors
with
significant
absolute GHG
emissions
associated
with discrete
materials in
their supply
chains.
The goal of
this research
is to inform
policy makers
and
manufacturers
about where
investments in
industrial
materials
efficiency can
reap the
greatest
economic and
environmental
rewards for
the U.S.
economy. Student-led life-cycle
assessments
for local
manufacturers
In 2013, ERSAL will
launch a pilot
program at
Northwestern to provide no-cost
life-cycle assessments (LCAs) to local
manufacturers using student-professor
audit teams. Through these audits,
Northwestern undergraduate students will
gain valuable hands-on LCA experience,
perform a critical professional service
by helping regional manufacturers
improve their sustainability, and
provide their results to the open
scientific community to advance LCA
knowledge globally. If you
are a small manufacturer in the Chicago
area and are interested in learning more
about the program, please send an email
to eric.masanet@northwestern.edu.
