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.

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 Programme

Best Practice Energy Case Studies

Driving Down Energy Transport Costs