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Energy efficiency and Eco-design: Major issues for Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric
The International Energy Agency has estimated ten trillion US dollars will be
invested in the next 30 years on the generation, transmission and distribution of
electrical power, to replace existing capacities in developed countries, accompany
the development of the energy market in emerging countries, or substitute
electricity for other energy vectors that are less clean or growing scarce.
Anticipating the dominant role of electricity in energy use, as of the end of the
1990s, Schneider Electric has been focusing on the energy efficiency of electrical
solutions. In parallel, by showing that the operation of electrical systems responds
to the optimal transfer of mechanical power, Schneider Electric Science &
Technology has established the universal nature of electricity as an energy vector,
above and beyond specific uses.
The natural tendency towards reversibility - in the thermodynamic sense - has
provided Schneider Electric with an analysis method to anticipate the evolution of
energy markets, making it possible to:
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compare energy vectors according to their energy performances; |
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estimate the margin available to optimise electrical solutions: innovations
relating to functional materials, devices, systems or energy management; |
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examine the sensitivity of prospective energy scenarios to progress in electrical
engineering technologies, particularly with respect to polluting emissions, in
order to initiate consistent research initiatives; |
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quantify proactive policies, whether tax incentives or behavioural Electricity
Demand-Side Management initiatives; and, |
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take into account allocation policies restricting demand to available resources. |
The domestication of electrical power is accompanied by a loss of value of
65% between primary energy and final energy, or even 75% considering the
obsolescence of equipment with respect to the best technologies available for
a given application. This analysis gives considerable stakes to the methodology
developed by Schneider Electric and its partners: it is the basis of certain
Schneider Electric research initiatives in the fields of energy efficiency and
sustainable development.
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World energy flows in MTOE: From primary resources to final uses (source: International Energy Agency, 2002) |
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Eco-design performed on Schneider Electric Okken cabinet: For intensive use, optimisation of the power
busways, with copper constant, yields energy savings and global warming reduction (solid line) |
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Energy mix assessed using the MARKAL model to meet the French electricity demand predicted for a 30-year period. The graphs show the selected technologies
for two different policies: On the right, the investment policy does not limit the growth of EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) power plants; On the left, the
investment policy limits the amount of energy provided by EPR power plants to 50% of the global demand |
Global Lifecycle Approach
Without a truly global approach to problems linked to the management of
energy and its availability in a usable form, transfers of pollution would take place between devices, lessening or even cancelling the expected gains. To overcome
this, Schneider Electric is developing an original methodology dedicated to
electrical system design. It is based on a multi-scale approach, to consolidate all
the components of an electrical system, whatever the size, and which integrates
the entire component life cycle, i.e. the manufacturing, utilisation and recycling
phases.
For sufficiently intensive utilisation of an electrical system, the use phase becomes
dominant in the energy balance. The system Life Cycle Assessment can be carried
out at the design phase according to the use profile and computerised modelling
of its elementary operation based on its energy description. It is then possible to
have an integrated eco-design software and deliver a complete representation of
the environmental impact of an electrical solution, in particular with respect to
CO2 emissions.
This initiative has received the support of the French Agency for Environment and
Energy Management (www.ademe.fr). To carry out this, Schneider Electric has
formed partnerships with public research centres and leading companies in design:
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The Laboratoire d’Electrotechnique de Grenoble (www-leg.ensieg.inpg.fr)
whose research activities cover all electrical engineering disciplines (materials,
component design and optimisation, electrical system management and
dependability); |
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The CEDRAT company (www.cedrat.com) and MAGSOFT company (www.
magsoft-flux.com), electrical engineering specialists and the publishers
of the FLUX Computer-Assisted Design suite, dedicated to the design of
electromagnetic devices that set the standard in fields such as the automobile
industry, aeronautics, electrical engineering, etc.; |
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The CODDE company (www.codde.fr), specialised in assessing the
environmental impacts of electrical and electronic systems; |
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The Center for Applied Mathematics of the Ecole des Mines de Paris
(www.ensmp.fr) which has a long background in the development of expertise
in the field of energy planning based on the optimisation of a detailed technical
and economic representation of the energy system for a given region based
on the MARKAL (Market Allocation) model developed in the framework of
the ETSAP (Energy Technology System Analysis Program) of the International Energy Agency. |
Short-term Emissions Reduction
In the short term, the aim is to make progress in the energy efficiency of products,
without reducing their service values and without entailing reconsideration of
the architecture of the systems in which they are to be used. Besides rotating
machines and power transformers, whose conversion ratios are already high,
major sources of energy efficiency have been exploited in variable speed drives for
motor control, for instance in the Schneider Electric Altivar 21 and 61, and power
busways.
There are still other sources to be explored in:
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power connectors in general (cabling,
printed circuit boards, etc.); |
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actuators, especially those used intensively; |
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the use and architectures of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT); and, |
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management of installations with a high
level of reactive energy due to continuity
of service requirements. |
Installation audits can provide equipment
use profiles. Further value can then be
derived from these technical developments
in Electricity Demand-Side Management
actions, in situ model achievements or
performance contracting.
Prospective Scenarios
In long-cycle industries, scientific
uncertainties must be reduced in order to
develop the most sustainable technologies
and anticipate market trends. Schneider
Electric has centred the eco-design
methodology on medium and long-term prospective thinking. Its objective is
for system Life Cycle Assessment to be sufficiently consolidated to match the
technological breakdown required by technical and economic energy planning
tools such as the MARKAL model. The method will provide a complete energyrelated
description of the energy management chain, from the very deep structure
of materials to acknowledgment of demand fluctuations, based on an optimal
description of energy transfers, and therefore conducive to:
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optimisation of architectures subject to operating and environmental
constraints; |
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discrimination of technologies and research initiatives benefiting from
favourable environmental leverage; |
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analysis of the sensitivity of prospective scenarios to determining operating
factors, in particular the flexibility of demand; and, |
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arbitration between the availability of electrical power and the investment to
be made between the production mix and transport, monitoring and reserve
capacities, as well as the sensitivity of such arbitration. |
The considerable political, economic, industrial and strategic dimensions
associated with this issue have led the Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées of
the Ecole des Mines de Paris to offer a postgraduate program dedicated to the
stakes of energy (www.ose.cma.fr).
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