The energy-cum-environment audit: Concept,approach and advantages

Summary An energy audit is a fundamental step of the energy conservation programme in any industrial plant or energy consuming facility. An energy-cum-environment audit is an analogous step of a programme aimed at conserving energy in an energy consuming facility and keeping its impacts on the environment within acceptable limits.The energy-cum-environment audit allows a simultaneous consideration of energy and environmental aspects. As a result, it is possible to identify options to reduce the overall cost of energy as well as pollution control. Also some of the principles of energy cost reduction and pollution control are identical.Energy audit and environment audit involve measurement of certain parameters some of which are common to both. Thus for a boiler, both would require measurement of fuel flow and air flow, CO₂ in the flue gas, etc. An energy-cum-environment audit would eliminate the repetitive measurement of these common parameters.Dr S.C. Bhattacharya is a member of staff in the Division of Energy Technology at the Asian Institute of Technology.