The role of end-use energy conversion efficiency as a climate mitigation tool
type: CreativeWork
description: Historically, conversion efficiency improvements have revolutionised the energy system, yet to reach climate targets, the scientific community agrees that even higher levels of energy efficiency improvement are required. When focusing on technical options there are two classes of technologies: conversion devices and passive systems. This thesis explores the role that the former can have in reducing energy demand with the aim of providing advice on the prioritisation and differentiation of policy action among these devices. The analysis is divided into three main chapters. First, issues with data quality were identified a cause for the marginalisation of end-use efficiency measures compared to supply-side ones. For the first time, the uncertainty of end-use statistics is quantified by drawing from methods developed in the field of Material Flow Analysis using the United Kingdom as a case study. The majority (85%) of the Useful energy balance uncertainties are below an acceptable (±25%) threshold. Therefore, end-use statistics are deemed sufficiently reliable for the development of policy-relevant indicators. Second, the technical efficiency limits for six widely used conversion devices are determined stochastically based on a combination of engineering models and review of the technical literature. The resulting limits are used to calculate the energy saving potential of each conversion device, and each design parameter for the United Kingdom. It is shown that 25% of the UK’s Final energy demand could be avoided if all conversion devices reached their technical limit. On the other hand, 15% savings could be achieved by applying available technology. Nonetheless, improvement margins vary substantially among devices meaning that strategies involving different balances of R&D and technology adoption incentives are required for each technology. Third, the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspective’s modelling results are used to assess the saving potenti…
abstract: Historically, conversion efficiency improvements have revolutionised the energy system, yet to reach climate targets, the scientific community agrees that even higher levels of energy efficiency improvement are required. When focusing on technical options there are two classes of technologies: conversion devices and passive systems. This thesis explores the role that the former can have in reducing energy demand with the aim of providing advice on the prioritisation and differentiation of policy action among these devices. The analysis is divided into three main chapters. First, issues with data quality were identified a cause for the marginalisation of end-use efficiency measures compared to supply-side ones. For the first time, the uncertainty of end-use statistics is quantified by drawing from methods developed in the field of Material Flow Analysis using the United Kingdom as a case study. The majority (85%) of the Useful energy balance uncertainties are below an acceptable (±25%) threshold. Therefore, end-use statistics are deemed sufficiently reliable for the development of policy-relevant indicators. Second, the technical efficiency limits for six widely used conversion devices are determined stochastically based on a combination of engineering models and review of the technical literature. The resulting limits are used to calculate the energy saving potential of each conversion device, and each design parameter for the United Kingdom. It is shown that 25% of the UK’s Final energy demand could be avoided if all conversion devices reached their technical limit. On the other hand, 15% savings could be achieved by applying available technology. Nonetheless, improvement margins vary substantially among devices meaning that strategies involving different balances of R&D and technology adoption incentives are required for each technology. Third, the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspective’s modelling results are used to assess the saving potenti…
author: Paoli, Leonardo
language: eng
keywords: energy efficiency, climate change, energy statistics, uncertainty
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/ed691a8b-2cb4-4fa4-aed5-da22ed4c6b40/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2019-09-28
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:32Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.53213