Donald Roels:

WHO TAKES THE FIRST STEP?

The Dutch process industry can count itself among the most energy efficient industries in the world. Together with ABN Amro, Deltalinqs , Bronswerk and De Breed & Partners, KH Engineering has drawn up a beautiful white paper with 'the five biggest obstacles to the energy transition'. The white paper informs you about the obstacles in the energy transition, but also about the possibilities available in the industrial market. This can be in the field of proven technologies, subsidy and financing options and integration into primary business operations (influence on primary processes and manageable and controllable integration costs).  

The process industry plays a key role in the energy transition. Precisely because of the 'law of large numbers' and the energy-intensive production processes that take place in the process industry, the sector can make an enormous contribution to solving the climate problem. It will have to: in the Netherlands, substantial CO2 reduction targets have been agreed upon in the Climate Accord. Two main paths can be distinguished in this: on the one hand switching to energy from sustainable sources and, on the other hand, saving energy. The first means a shift from heat-driven processes to electrically-driven processes. And the latter is often a solid business case, provided that companies are prepared to expect a slightly longer payback period. 

'CONSERVATIVE IN THE PROCESS INDUSTRY IS EXPLAINABLE AND NOT NECESSARY'

‘The petrochemical sector is by nature robust and conservative,’ says energy transition consultant Donald Roels of KH Engineering. ‘It makes sense: the investments are very capital intensive, the lifespan of assets and associated investment cycles are long and because it often involves bulk production, any change carries a risk of costly disruptions. That is why petrochemical companies prefer to use proven technology. The annoying thing is that you can't keep looking at each other. Somebody has to take the first step. "

WHERE TO START?

If all goes well, a company has a good understanding of its energy consumption and what that consumption is. In the past twenty years, the process industry has mainly focused on improving efficiency, often in small steps. What matters in 2020 is identifying residual heat and where it is located in the process, and carefully weighing the required heat level for each part of that process. 

receive the Whitepaper 

Became curious? Click here to receive the White Paper 'The five biggest obstacles of the energy transition in the process industry and the solution to them'.

In this White paper:Editie 01 KHEngine extern artikel WP_mock up whitepaper

  • Focus op energy savings
  • From conservative to progressive
  • New technologies
  • Explanation by experts
  • Discover the subsidy possibilities

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Do you have any questions or would you like more information? Please contact your KH contact person or our energy specialist Donald Roels via donald.roels@khe.eu or 010 2088888.