Energy efficiency improvements

At Imperial, our strategy to reduce GHG emissions is focused on increasing our own energy efficiency and advancing proven emission-reducing technologies in the short term as well as developing breakthrough technologies for the longer term.

What we are doing

Near-term actions
In the near term, we are pursuing the efficient use of energy in a number of ways:

• Utilizing energy management systems
• Improving equipment and procedures in operations
• Installing energy conservation technology at retail sites
• Providing leadership to encourage improvements
• Incorporating energy technologies in projects

Energy management system
As part of our Global Energy Management System (GEMS), we conduct rigorous comparisons of our sites against an ideal operation to identify gaps. These gaps are systematically addressed through projects and work practices.

Energy efficiency for refining and for chemical steam cracking is measured using a third-party benchmarking methodology, and indices are calculated. These indices compare actual energy consumed versus an industry average standard for the amount of energy that should be consumed. This measures how well we run our equipment.

Improving energy efficiency in our refining business
By diligently seeking out incremental fixes such as capturing steam leaks or adjusting oxygen levels in furnaces to optimize heat production, as well as maintaining a sustained employee focus on day-to-day operations, we continued to make improvements in our energy usage.

Since 1990, the overall energy efficiency of our refineries has improved by 18 percent. In 2010, our refinery operations were two percent more efficient than 2009. Our target is to improve energy efficiency across our manufacturing sites by at least one percent each year.

Here are some examples of improvements in energy efficiency that occurred in the refining business in 2010:

• In Nanticoke, the refinery reduced its energy consumption index for the third consecutive year. This was achieved through focused spending to reduce steam leaks, operational and maintenance initiatives to improve efficiency and through improved monitoring of energy use.
• At Strathcona, steam leaks were reduced by 40 per cent from the plants piping systems, while improved maintenance of heat exchangers allowed waste heat to be captured and reused.
• The Dartmouth refinery has improved its energy performance by more than 10 percent over the last three years, with a new best-ever performance recorded in 2010. This was achieved through a focus on leak reduction, utilities management, exchanger cleaning, furnace improvements and energy recovery through capital investments.
• Sarnia refinery realized significant improvement in energy performance in 2010 as it continued to benefit from increased use of co-generation. Small increases in emissions at the refinery were offset by reductions at the power utility. As well, the refinery achieved best-ever performance for several key programs including steam trap and leak repair programs, heat exchange cleaning and steam load and letdown management.

Improving energy efficiency in the Upstream
In our Upstream business, we are pursuing energy efficiency opportunities through management systems, energy audits, waste heat recovery and new energy technologies.

Our Cold Lake oil sands development is an energy-intensive operation, with a strong focus on energy efficiency. In 2010, an external review of the Cold Lake operation, involving experts from the ExxonMobil network, was completed. The review confirmed that Cold Lake continues to meet best-in-class energy efficiency standards for similar operations worldwide. At the same time, the study identified a number of opportunities to enhance the operation's energy efficiency programs. The operation is focusing on a number of opportunities that will provide more steam for in situ injection while keeping fuel gas consumption flat.

Operators at Cold Lake use the production operations energy management system to steward and improve energy efficiency by reducing energy operating costs while maximizing energy delivered to the reservoir. This system leverages best practices and tools, one of which includes an energy surveillance tool called data visualization (DV). In 2009, Cold Lake became Imperial's first Upstream operation to implement DV. Every plant control room has a DV station, which gives operators a real-time view of energy performance at their facility. Since the implementation of DV at Cold Lake, more than $1 million in energy efficiency improvements have been realized.

Other important advances in the business include completing a waste-heat recovery project in late 2010 for our Norman Wells oil extraction facility in the Northwest Territories. The project captures waste heat from power generators' exhaust stacks. As a result, we have reduced the need to burn natural gas to meet current plant process heating requirements and have conserved gas and heat that would otherwise have been burned and vented. This is expected to reduce the plant's GHG emissions by nearly 20 percent each year in the future.

In our retail business
We continued a multi-year program to install energy conservation technology at retail sites. To date, 125 of our largest sites have been upgraded. The automated building systems are designed to manage and reduce electricity and energy consumption. In addition, more than 85 retail sites have been retrofitted with energy-efficient outdoor lighting. All sites built since 2009 are equipped with energy efficient LED exterior lighting. We also have started a program to retrofit the exterior lighting with LED lighting systems, and to date have completed these retrofits at 7 sites.

Incorporating energy-saving technologies in projects
Another way we save energy is by incorporating technologies that reduce energy use and minimize emission intensity in our project plans.

Cogeneration is key to reducing our energy requirements and GHG emissions by providing an efficient means to produce electricity and steam at the same time. Cogeneration facilities at our Cold Lake operation have helped it to reduce emissions by 40 percent compared with generating electricity from coal-fired plants and processing steam from conventional boilers.

Our new Kearl project and our proposed Nabiye expansion at Cold Lake will include a combined 270 megawatts (MW) of cogeneration. We estimate that Kearl’s cogeneration facility will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by half a million tonnes a year compared to purchased power for the first phase of the project. The facilities will add to our 265 MW of existing cogeneration capacity at Cold Lake and Sarnia.

We will also use a new proprietary paraffinic froth treatment technology to remove fine clay particles and water from the bitumen and produce a product suitable for pipeline transport to market. Kearl will be the first oil sands mining operation that does not require an upgrader to make a saleable crude oil. Processing bitumen once, rather than twice (in an upgrader and a refinery), reduces life-cycle GHG emissions.

Promoting energy conservation
We actively support initiatives that reduce consumer emissions from the use of our products, or promote overall energy conservation. For example, we have supported the Clean Air Foundation’s Car Heaven program, since its inception in 2000. This national program has facilitated the retirement and responsible recycling of over 91,000 older, higher-emitting vehicles at no cost to the owner and provides incentives for the purchase of new vehicles or other cleaner alternatives. We also support the foundation’s Switch the ‘Stat program, which promoted the use of energy-efficient programmable thermostats.

We are also supporting QUEST, a multi-stakeholder collaborative network seeking to advance integrated community energy systems in urban areas across Canada.