Chemistry Global Perspectives

By Tom Burroughs

Energy in Europe and Japan: More Efficient, More Renewable

Remember hearing the argument that forcing business to invent and adopt energy-saving technologies might cut our use of fossil fuels but would certainly cost jobs? Evidently, officials in Europe and Japan didn’t get that memo. In fact, our friends overseas seem to have heard that the opposite was true.

European Union Action Plan

In October 2006, the European Union (EU) unveiled an action plan for energy efficiency. The plan could save Europe at least 20% of its present energy consumption by 2020, an amount equal to the current combined consumption of Germany and Finland, and do so in a cost-efficient manner. To gain these savings, the EU will have to make considerable investments in developing new energy-efficient equipment and services. However, these investments are expected to create many new high-quality jobs across Europe—perhaps as many as a million jobs in a variety of fields.

Europe’s plan calls for providing its citizens with “the most energy-efficient buildings, appliances, processes, cars, and energy systems” in the world. Among 75 specific actions suggested, the plan singles out the transport sector as the area with the most potential, and European automakers have voluntarily agreed to produce cars by 2008–2009 that are 25% more fuel-efficient than those rolling off assembly lines in 1998.

Japan Promotes Energy Efficiency

Japan, with the world’s second-largest economy and virtually no domestic sources of fossil fuel, has done even more to boost energy efficiency. For example, low-emission vehicles, such as the gas–electric hybrids now catching on in the United States, already account for 21% of all automobiles on Japanese roads. As the government promotes even greater energy efficiencies, through actions such as setting strict new energy-saving targets for 18 kinds of consumer and business electronics, the job market for designing and building energy-friendly products is expected to grow dramatically.

Renewable Energy

As part of their collective energy strategies, both Europe and Japan also are promoting the development and use of various sources of renewable energy. These efforts are expected to catalyze job growth as well.

As an overarching goal, the EU has declared its intention to use renewable-energy resources for at least 12% of its total energy consumption by 2010—double the current share—and for perhaps 20% of total consumption by 2020. Government officials and industry leaders are focusing on a number of options. For example, the plan calls for using biomass—wood, waste, and agricultural crops—to meet 8% of total energy needs, up from today’s 4%. Among the projects under way, DuPont’s plant at Uentrop, Germany, uses wood chips from the local forest-products industry to fire its boilers, replacing old, inefficient, natural-gas-fired boilers.

Solar Energy

Solar energy is receiving increasing attention for generating electricity, a vital component of most nations’ energy diets. In a government–industry project, Spain recently opened a “concentrated solar thermal power” plant to feed electricity into the national grid. The plant, the first of its kind in Europe, uses various mirror configurations to convert solar energy into high-temperature heat that, in turn, drives a conventional generator to produce electricity. In Germany, tiremaker Michelin has installed solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of four of its buildings located near each other. Covering 288,000 square meters and generating 8300 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, this project is regarded as the largest of its kind in the world. One surprise in this area is that the leading supplier of photovoltaic cells in both Spain and Germany is First Solar, based in Northwood, OH.

Wind Energy

Corporations also are looking at wind energy and geothermal energy to power on-site operations. The Nike Customer Services Center in Laakdal, Belgium, recently launched a 9-megawatt wind project, the largest of its kind in Europe. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is using geothermal energy for 100% of the heating and cooling requirements of its 7000-square-meter manufacturing facility near Lyon, France.

Role of the Chemical Industry

As a major user of energy, the chemical industry has a key role to play in Europe’s plans. The industry, which uses coal, oil products, natural gas, and electricity as both fuels and raw materials, accounts for roughly 12% of Europe’s total energy demand. According to the European Chemical Industry Council, industry-wide energy consumption per unit of production has been reduced by more than 40% since 1990, and the chemical sector is pursuing a variety of research and development projects centered on developing new biofuels, fuel cells, and lightweight materials that will directly or indirectly reduce energy use.

Diversified Power Sources

For its part, Japan has dramatically diversified its power sources over the years. The nation now imports 16% less oil than it did in 1973, although its economy has more than doubled. Wonder how this transpired? Japan accounts for approximately 48% of global solar-power production, compared with 15% for the United States. Nippon Steel, the nation’s largest steelmaker, fires some of its furnaces at least partially with such “unwanted” materials as used tires and discarded grocery bags and bottles. (On a less positive note, the company has replaced a portion of its previous oil needs with another fossil fuel, coal.) The paper industry has done even better in reducing its reliance on oil, now using waste-based alternative energies for 38% of its power.

Of course, more remains to be done—worldwide. But Europe and Japan are showing the rest of the world that changing the way we use energy can cut costs, help clean the environment, and provide jobs for growing numbers of people.

Tom Burroughs is a science writer and editor who lives in Chapel Hill, NC.