Comparative study of energy assessment from apparel industries: The context of Sri Lanka

Industrial sector consumes significant proportion of world's energy for their construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, demolition and disposals. There is a continued increase in demand for energy to meet the growing industrial needs of rapidly increasing population. To cater the future demand, it is important to conserve energy by efficient use of resources and equipments. Apparel sector is one of the energy intensive sectors of the country. The cost of energy substantiates a significant component of its total operational cost. Therefore, study of energy consumption and identification of the potential for energy conservation is crucial to ensure industrial competitiveness on a global scale. This paper has aimed to assess the energy consumption of apparel sector in terms of equipments used and functional areas occupied. The methodological approach of this study includes walk through audits, detail audits, and interviews with selected management staff. From the study, it has been found that the major energy consumer is air conditioner which records average percentage of 46% of the total energy consumed. Whereas, the areas wise assessment reveals that sewing area consume major part of the energy which is in the range from 40-65% of the total energy consumed. It has also been found that the potential for energy saving in this sector is in the region of 15-30%. Therefore, this study has attempted to make some recommendation for the energy efficiency by doing a cost benefit analysis for the energy efficiency measures. This in turn will reduce the cost of energy and products and help to achieve the competitive advantage.