Compressed air systems in the European Union. Energy, emissions, savings potential and policy actions

Using compressed air in the industrial and service sectors is a common practice, since production, handling and use are safe and easy. Compressed air accounts for as much as 10 % of industrial electricity consumption, that is more than 80 TWh per year in the European Union. However, energy efficiency of many compressed air systems is low. Improvements in the range from 5 to 50 % are possible, but a large technical and profitable savings potential is not realised under current market and decision mechanisms. This book gives a broad overview on energy consumption and growth by compressed air systems. The energy savings potential is determined and the impacts are analysed. Based on these results, two action programmes are presented, each composed of specific measures, which are designed to realise the existing savings potential. Finally, the likely impacts of the proposed programmes are evaluated