Evaluation of the implementation of energy efficiency measures in sugar industry and vegetable oil industry using SWOT and QSPM methods

Subject Areas : environmental management

Hasti Borgheipour ¹ , Roxana Moogouei ²

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran *(Corresponding Author)
2 - Department of Environmental Planning, Management and Education, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2015-08-05 Accepted : 2016-06-15 Published : 2019-03-21

Keywords: Energy efficiency, SWOT, The vegetable oil industry, The sugar industry, QSPM,

Abstract :

Background and objectives: Food industry in Iran is one of the major energy consuming industries. Sugar industry and vegetable oil industry are one of the main energy consuming industries in the food industry. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures in sugar and vegetable oil industries. Method: In this study, it was attempted to apply SWOT analysis to develop strategies for the improvement of energy efficiency measures in the mentioned industries. This analysis includes the current effects (strengths and weaknesses) and the effects of future development (opportunities and threats). Also, the QSPM matrix was used to determine the relative attractiveness of the developed strategies. Findings: After examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures in the studied industries, the results of analysis by IFE and EFE matrices showed that strengths are less than the weaknesses and the opportunities of development are more than the threats. Discussion and Conclusion: According to the results, development of strategies to improve the implementation of energy efficiency measures in the sugar and vegetable oil industries seems to be necessary. Among the strategies developed in this study, “establishing a proper system for policy making and implementation of policies, rules and regulations related to the energy sector and presenting a series of detailed rules for enforcing existing rules” are at the top of the strategyies  

References:

1. 1.      Metz, B., Davidson, O.R., Bosch, P.R., Dave, R.,  Meyer, L.A. IPCC, 2007. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. from http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg3/en/ch7.html


2. 2.      Rohdin, P., Thollander, P., 2006. Barriers to and driving forces for energy efficiency in the non-energy intensive manufacturing industry in Sweden. ENERGY, vol. 31, pp. 1836-1844.


3. 3.      MOE, 2010. Energy balancesheet 2010. Iran Ministry of Energy, Tehran.(In Persian)


4. 4.      IFCO (Iranian fuel conservation company), 2012. Energy  Consumption Saving inVegetable Oil and suger Industries. IFCO, Tehran.(In Persian)


5. 5.      DeCanio, S., 1993. Barriers within firms to energy efficient investments. ENERG POLICY, vol. 9, pp. 906-914.


6. 6.      Jaffe, A.B., Stavins, R.N., 1994. The energy efficiency gap: what does it mean? ENERG POLICY, vol. 22, pp. 804-810.


7. 7.      Brown, M.A, 2001. Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies. Energy Policy, vol. 29, pp. 1197-1207.


8. 8.      De Groot, H., Verhoef, E., Nijkamp, P., 2001. Energy saving by firms: decision-making, barriers and policies. Energy Economics, vol. 23, pp. 717-740.


9. 9.      Sorrell S, O'Malley E, Schleich J, Scott S., 2004. The Economics of Energy Efficiency - Barriers to Cost-Effective Investment, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham


10. 10.   Shi, H., Peng, S.Z., Liu, Y., Zhong, P., 2008. Barriers to the implementation of cleaner production in Chinese SMEs: government, industry and expert stakeholders’ perspectives. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 16, pp. 842-852


11. 11.   Nouri. J., Hosseinzadeh Lotfi. F., Borgheipour. H., Atabi. F., Sadeghzadeh. M., Moghaddas. Z., 2013. An analysis of the Implementation of Energy Efficiency Measures in the Vegetable Oil Industry of Iran: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 52, pp. 84-93.


12. 12.   Yuan H., 2013. A SWOT analysis of successful construction waste management. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol, 39, pp.  1-8.


13. 13.   GSGislason & Associates, Ltd, 2004. British Columbia Seafood Sector and Tidal Water Fishing: a Strengths, Resources, Opportunities and Threats Assessment. Final report, prepared for the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Victoria, BC. Available online at: http://www.al.gov.bc.ca/fisheries/


14. 14.   Duarte C., Ettkin L.P., Helms M.M., Anderson M.S., 2006. The challenge of Venezuela: a SWOT analysis, Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal incorporating. Journal of Global Competitiveness, vol. 16(3), pp. 233 -247.


15. 15.   Bolton, J.J.,  Robertson-Andersson, D.V., Shuuluka, D., Kandjengo, L., 2009. Growing Ulva (Chlorophyta) in integrated systems as a commercial crop for abalone feed in South Africa: a SWOT analysis. J. Appl. Phycol, vol. 21, pp. 575-583.


16. 16.   Gu Wan-rong, Jin Yi, Meng Yao, Wang Jian-guo, Zhao Xian-long, Li Jing, Wei Shi, (2013). SWOT Analysis and Development Strategies of Maize Industry in Heilongjiang Province, Journal of Northeast Agricultural University (English Edition),  20, 1, 76-84


17. 17.   Sarter, S., Sarter, G., Gilabert, P., 2010. A Swot analysis of HACCP implementation in Madagascar, Food Control,  vol, 21, pp. 253-259.


18. 18.   Roxana Moogouei, 2014. A SWOT analysis of aquaculture development in rural areas of Iran, an application to Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), International Journal of Aquatic Biology, 2, 1, 36-42.


19. 19.   Jessica R. Glass, Gordon H. Kruse, Scott A. Miller, 2015. Socioeconomic considerations of the commercial weathervane scallop fishery off Alaska using SWOT analysis, Ocean & Coastal Management, vol, 105, pp. 154-165. 


20. 20.   Glaister, K.W., Falshaw, J.R., 1999. Strategic planning still going strong. Long Range Planning, vol. 32(1), pp. 107-116.