Assessment of energy-saving and emission reduction potentials in China’s ammonia industry

As one of the most energy-, emission- and pollution-intensive industries, the production of ammonia is responsible for significant emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and local air pollutants. Although many energy efficiency measures have been proposed by Chinese government to mitigate GHG emissions and improve air quality, a less than full understanding of the costs and potentials have been barrier to promoting and implementing these measures. Assessing the costs, benefits, and cost-effectiveness of different energy efficiency measures is essential to advancing this understanding. In this study, a bottom-up energy conservation supply curve was used to estimate the potential of 26 energy efficiency measures in China’s ammonia industry. Their cost-effective implementation results in a potential saving of 271.5 PJ/year for fuels and 5.44 TWh/year for electricity, which equals to 14 % and 14 % of fuel and electricity consumed in the ammonia industry in 2012, and would be responsible for mitigating emissions of annual 26.7 Mt CO2. In addition, the co-benefits of air pollutants emission reductions that result from energy savings were quantified. The results advance the understanding of the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency measures and can be used to augment the efforts in reducing energy use and environmental impacts.