Month: March 2010

Methodology, Samples

Sankey Diagram Overlay to Show Changes

1 Comment on Sankey Diagram Overlay to Show Changes

Found the following Sankey diagrams in an educational presentation by UNIDO on Cleaner Production (CP).

unido_cp_sankey_1

unido_cp_sankey_2

This is actually quite a nice idea to show the improvements resulting from a technical measure. The diagram on the left represents the original situation, while on the right it is seen in grey. The flow diagram for the new situation overlays the “old” diagram. Both are scaled to 1 kg of varnish applied to a workpiece (the green Sankey arrow), so the reductions in input quantity and emissions show the actual savings achieved.

Samples

Energy Efficiency Analysis in Finland

Motiva is a state owned limited company from Finland offering energy efficiency analysis and energy audit for companies. Motiva also developed audit guidelines and models, and engages in training and authorisation of the energy auditors.

In their energy audit reports, they always include a Sankey diagram in the very first chapter. Here is an example:

motiva_sankey_2

Other consulting companies, such as Pöyry (not sure how to pronounce this) haven taken on their approach and are also producing Motiva style Sankey

poyri_sankey_4

Both Sankey diagrams designed in PowerPoint. Not bad at all, but probably quite a time-consuming task.

Samples

40 years from now: UK 2050 energy flows

2 Comments on 40 years from now: UK 2050 energy flows

A reader of the blog alerted me about a new report that contains Sankey diagrams for the United Kingdom’s 2007 and 2050 energy flows. Thanks, Neil!

The report is about heat demand and CHP (Building a roadmap for heat. 2050 scenarios and heat delivery in the UK) and was prepared by University of Surrey and Imperial College for the Combined Heat and Power Association (CHPA). [Account is dead in 2018, access the report here instead]. On p. 18 it has the following Sankey diagram. I have shown a similar diagram for the UK in this post.

uk_2007_energyflows2

Data is from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics. All flows are in millions of tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE). Primary energy demand in 2007 was 237 MTOE.

The second Sankey diagram presented (on page 23) is a scenario for 2050. It was calculated using the MARKAL model.

uk_2050_energyflows

One must read all the assumptions made for the model to be able to interpret it, but you can see immediately that the “energy system in 2050 is signifcantly altered under the common assumptions presented in all-electricity scenarios. In particular, final energy consumption in 2050 will be reduced by 46% against 2007 figures under the assumptions used in the CCC 80% CO2 reduction scenario”.

I invite you to read chapters 3.3. and 3.4 of the report to better understand the 2050 Sankey diagram. Note that the overall primary energy demand is significantly lower, but power generation almost doubles compared to the current situation. Losses from oil refineries are omitted in this scenario due to lack of data.

A great Sankey diagram by the research group made up from researchers from ICEPT (Imperial Centre for Energy Policy and Technology) and Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey.