Open AccessRenewable energy sources for industrial consumers - a past to present analysis of technical and financial efficiency
Author(s) -
Aida Delcea,
Ioan-Sevastian Bitir-Istrate
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/664/1/012031
Subject(s) - renewable energy , profitability index , renewable heat , environmental economics , solar energy , fossil fuel , production (economics) , order (exchange) , environmental science , natural resource economics , subsidy , consumption (sociology) , business , economics , heat pump , engineering , finance , microeconomics , waste management , mechanical engineering , market economy , social science , heat exchanger , hybrid heat , sociology , electrical engineering
Renewable energy sources represent one of the solutions to mitigate the impact energy production, transportation and use have on climate change. Solar heat for industrial processes is an emerging solution that has yet to reach its true potential. When an industrial consumer is considering installing an energy source on site, a technical and financial analysis is performed to find the optimal solution. However, the analysis is characterized by a certain degree of uncertainty due to the assumptions made, that influence the final decision. Hence, the profitability of renewable energy-based solutions can either be overvalued or undervalued when compared to a fossil fuel-based solution. In this paper, the solar heat potential for the industry in Romania is calculated. Then, a past to present analysis is performed in order to assess the real benefits an industrial energy consumer would have gained had he considered a few years back to cover a fraction of its heat consumption with a solar heat source, by using the real historic data regarding the energy market evolution. The results show that subsidies are necessary in order to make solar heating profitable and more appealing for industrial applications in the market conditions from Romania.