Barriers to energy efficiency improvement and decision-making behavior in Thai industry

The industrial sector is one of the main energy consuming sectors in Thailand and accounted for 36.7% of total energy consumption in 2005. The trend of rising energy prices and tougher competition increases the demand to improve energy efficiency in Thai industry. However, the existence of various barriers often hinders the realization of even some cost-effective energy efficiency measures. In an attempt to investigate key barriers to and drivers for energy efficiency improvement in Thai industry, this study found that the most important barrier expressed by both the textile and cement industries studied as well as experts interviewed is that the management is concerned about production and other matters rather than energy efficiency. Reducing product cost by reducing energy cost is found to be the main driver for energy efficiency investment. Using a conceptual industrial energy efficiency policy framework this study shows how various energy efficiency policies can affect the process of decision-making for and investment in energy efficiency in industry.