Exergy analysis of the energy use in Greece

In this work, an analysis is being done on the concept of energy and exergy utilization and an application to the residential and industrial sector of Greece. The energy and exergy flows over the period from 1990 to 2004 were taken into consideration. This period was chosen based on the data reliability. The energy and exergy efficiencies are calculated for the residential and industrial sectors and compared to the findings of a previous study concerning the exergy efficiency of the Greek transport sector. The residential energy and exergy efficiencies for the year 2003 were 22.36% and 20.92%, respectively, whereas the industrial energy and exergy efficiencies for the same year were 53.72% and 51.34%, respectively. The analysis of energy and exergy utilization determines the efficiency of the economy as a whole. The results can play an important role in the establishment of efficiency standards of the energy use in various economy sectors. These standards could be utilized by energy policy makers.

Research highlights
► This work analyzes energy and exergy utilization in the energy sector of Greece by considering the energy and exergy flows for the years of 1990–2004.
► Energy and exergy analyses and hence efficiencies for the residential and industrial sector are then obtained and compared to transport energy and exergy efficiencies.
► The industrial sector appears to be the most energy and exergy efficient one.
► It should be noted that due to non-availability of data concerning the fuel energy consumption of the appliances as well as of industrial processes, a general methodology was employed in order to calculate the energy and exergy efficiencies.
► It may also be concluded that the exergy analysis offers constructive suggestions for the optimization and improvement of the energy utilization effectiveness of the sectors under study.