Developing a more comprehensive energy efficiency index for coal production: Indicators, methods and case study

The coal production industry is a major energy consuming and greenhouse gas emitting industry. Due to the accuracy of indicator design and the availability of data, assessing the efficiency and comparing the energy consumption of different companies has always been a problem. Thus, an accurate solution to these issues is needed. This study re-designs energy efficiency evaluation indicators for underground coal production. It uses eight indicators, divided into two categories (composite evaluation indicators and single process measurement indicators), summarizes the evaluation criteria for these indicators, and then develops a comprehensive Energy Efficiency Index (EEI). Based on the above, we compare the 13 mines belonging to Xinwen Mining Group with four other large-scale mining enterprises. The results show that the current composite indicator evaluation system does not accurately assess old coal mines, and can be replaced by the EEI due to its comprehensiveness, fairness, and it not being affected by any individual indicator. Lastly, this paper proposes management and technology measures to tap coal production energy efficiency potential, and finds the energy saving potential of Xinwen Mining Group is 16.8% per annum.