Energy
This page contains information on energy and helping member companies to save on their energy costs.
Introduction
Saving energy, saving money
In keeping with its commitment to environmental issues and sustainability, the AQA wants to help its members to make a resounding saving of their own $$$ and the same time conserving the country’s resources.
AQA is working on your behalf with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to develop this Best Practice Energy Programme for our industry.
A subsidised pilot audit programme was undertaken last year, and numerous major companies took the opportunity to become more energy efficient. It provided practical assistance to companies that wanted to reduce their energy use. Already many thousands of dollars have been saved through often simple changes of procedure.
The AQA is looking to extend the programme in 2010 and we will keep you informed about this in the coming few months. In the meantime, energy audit funding is still available for businesses with an energy spend over $100,000 per annum. Details can be found at http://www.eecabusiness.govt.nz/services-and-funding/audit-grants.
On these energy related pages you will find numerous examples of smarter use of energy with practical advice and tools to help you at your site. For instance, the Energy Monitoring Tool has been developed especially for our industry, and we encourage you to take a look to see how effective it can be for your business.
Energy use in quarrying
Quarrying is an energy intensive sector and energy is one of the most significant costs facing quarry operators.
In total, the non-metallic minerals sector in New Zealand uses an estimated 6.3 petajoules (PJ) of energy a year - equivalent to the annual energy use of all households in the Auckland City district.
It is about 4% of New Zealand’s total industrial energy demand, and does not even include liquid fuel used by vehicles or mobile plant.
Energy is predominantly used in the following areas on a quarry site:
crushing
screening
water pumping
conveyors
Specific results from recent energy audits:
Quarry site 1, Upper North Island
Cost of audit: $8,000
Annual savings identified: $27,000 (plus a further $35,000 possible with further investigation)
Cost to implement all savings: $12,000
Quarry site 2, Lower North Island
Cost of audit: $5,600
Annual savings identified: $25,000
Cost to implement all savings: $5,200
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) experience across all industries shows that most businesses can save at least 20% of their energy costs:
- 10% through simple low-and no-cost changes (payback of 1 year or less)
- a further 10% savings with some investment (payback of 1 - 5 years)
Typically, for every dollar invested in an energy audit, around $7.50 of savings are identified.
AQA Energy Audit Programme
New energy efficiency programme for the New Zealand aggregate industry
Energy monitoring tool (note this file is 8 Mb)
Preliminary results
Best Practice Energy Case Studies
Water pumps
Power factor correction
Driving Down Energy Transport Costs
Fuel Efficiency
Industry training