In many developing countries, industrial motor-driven systems are a large part of the electrical load. In 1996, Berkeley Lab began working with the US DOE to encourage development of energy-efficient motor-driven systems in developing countries that signed bi-lateral agreements with the US government to promote more efficient utilization of their energy resources. This resulted in the “Study of Pumps and Fans Market in China”, and missions to India, Brazil, South Africa, China and Nigeria to share with them program activities designed to promote more energy-efficient motor-driven systems. The mission to China in 1998 resulted in the creation of the China Motor System Energy Program.

China Motor Systems Energy Conservation Program

Industrial Systems are a major user of electricity in China, accounting for more than 50 percent of overall electricity use. In 2001, China consumed approximately 1,400 billion kWh of electricity, second only to the United States, with the large majority of motors driving fans, pumps or compressors. In addition to attractive cost savings, a savings of 5-10 percent of current motor system energy use in China by 2010 would result in an annual reduction of 35 to 70 billion kWh of electricity, or 14 to 28 million tons of annual carbon reduction, (51-102 million metric tons of annual CO2 reduction).

The China Motor System Energy Conservation Program, is a joint collaboration between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), US DOE, the Energy Foundation and the Chinese government, represented by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the State Development and Reform Commission. Primary funding for this program is being provided by the United Nations Foundation. The Program is being implemented by the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) and the Shanghai and Jiangsu Energy Conservation Centers with technical assistance from LBNL as the lead for an International Team of Experts, and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

This four year project has involved the development of a variety of education materials, analysis tools and standards for promoting motor system optimization in China and putting an infrastructure in place in the provinces of Shanghai and Jiangsu to promote greater efficiency in industrial motor driven systems. The China Motor System Energy Conservation Program is an important first step in the Chinese government’s planned ten-year effort to establish and train a network of motor system optimization experts throughout China, and to use these experts to assist individual factories to implement motor system improvement projects.

With a Berkeley staff member as the Chief Technical Adviser for the program, the Lab has been actively involved in leading and developing the curriculum for the program. The first phase of the project, training the Chinese engineers on system optimization techniques, has been completed. In the second phase, the Chinese engineers are conducting plant assessments, training factory personnel, developing projects and case studies, i.e., the “Performance Optimization of Pump System of a Pharmaceuticals Company” . The program has received an independent interim evaluation and will also receive a final evaluation in 2005. Discussions are already underway with the Chinese government on continuation of this work.

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International Motor Software

The US DOE, Ministry of Economics of Chile, International Copper Association and ETSU-United Kingdom have joined forces to develop the International Motor System Software. The deliverables for this joint effort include:

Additional sponsoring countries are being sought. For more information, contact Aimee McKane at LBNL atmckane@lbl.gov or John Mollet of the International Copper Association at jmollet@copper.org .

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