Guidelines for Energy Management in Industry

The Act on the Rational Use of Energy (Energy Conservation Act) passed in 1979, revised in 1993 and 1998, 2002, and 2005 sets the foundation for industrial energy efficiency and energy management regulations. The 1979 act set standards for prevention of heat loss and recovery and utilisation of waste heat in industrial processes and established quantitative goals for energy efficiency improvements in individual factories. The requirements applied to designated energy management factories (a factory or place of business with an annual fuel consumption equivalent to at least 3,000 kilolitre of crude oil or an annual electricity consumption of at least 12 GWh). This currently concerns about 3,500 factories and business sites. The act also required designated energy-management factories to hire a certified energy manager and report the status of their energy consumption every year. In March 1998 the regulations were revised, establishing energy efficiency obligations for a new category of "designated energy-management factories", known as Type 2, those with an annual fuel consumption equivalent to over 1,500 kilolitres of crude oil or an annual electricity consumption over 6 GWh. This concerned about 9,000 medium-sized factories and business sites. The new Type 2 designated factories were obliged to appoint an energy manager and monitor the actual status of energy use in the factory or workplace. A new obligation was also established for the "Type 1 Designated Energy Management Factory": the submission of a medium- to long-term report on energy conservation measures. In 2000, the Japanese government formulated new inspection guidelines for improving energy efficiency at first-class, designated industries, that together consume 70% of the total amount of energy used by the industrial sector. The new guidelines specify that the each principle equipment in factories should be checked and compiled in energy management manuals. Also, measurements should be taken and recorded, maintenance and inspections should be carried out to evaluate such check items. These specific checks constitute the core requirements to be met by the factories under the Energy Conservation Act. As for evaluation, survey forms sent in advance to factories are completed by them, and then METI and the Energy Conservation Center carry out an on-site survey at each factory and cross-check the evaluations. If the evaluation shows results are below a certain level, an on-the-spot inspection is carried out, and if the situation is not satisfactory, the factory will be instructed to draw up a rationalisationplan in accordance with the article 12 of the law. The on-site surveys based on the new guidelines start in April 2001. All designated energy management factories are to be checked within about five years. In June 2002, requirements were further strengthened. The classification of Type 1 designated factories was expanded to include all energy-using business categories, including manufacturing, residential, and commercial facilities. For Type 2 designated facilities, a new obligation of periodical reporting on the actual status of energy use was established. The regulations were once again amended in August 2005. To expand the scope of factories energy management programme, the previous category division of heat and electricity for factories and offices is abolished and integrated into a single amount of energy. Thus target factories are those that consume above a certain amount of both heat and electricity. Type 1 Designated Energy Management Factories are those which consume large amounts of energy (the total consumption of fuel and electricity is 3,000 kL or more per year in crude oil equivalents) and belong to the five manufacturing industries. The revised act requires the appointment of an energy operations manager for Type 1 and smaller Type 2 factories. Facilities must provide yearly reports, as well as develop mid- and long-term plans for energy efficiency

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