An international review of energy models: Introduction of a new paradigm

The availability of fossil fuels, specifically for energy production, has experienced increased constrains and together with the increasing drive for integration of renewable technologies, the associated cost of energy as a commodity has increased. This is especially true for the manufacturing industry, which consumes a significant amount of energy. This has necessitated focus on energy efficiency and reduction of energy use as viable options for sustainable energy use. Energy systems modelling has long been recognised as a tool for evaluation and optimisation of energy systems, demand planning and policy analysis. As energy systems evolved from simple to complex, so to have the energy models evolved from simple supply and demand models to complex and dynamic multicriteria models incorporating technological detail, economics and econometrics. Limitations of the traditional models are a high level of expertise, high technical and economic detail, historical data and time intensity. This paper proposes a detailed literature critique of current energy models. The models are comprehensively analysed so as to identify current boundaries, challenges, and input intensity to be circumvented in developing a novel business centric approach to energy modelling of Multinational Manufacturing Corporations (MMC'S). The research is based on a fundamental of the business world, Business Processes. MMC's conduct business using global or regional business processes depending on the function, global/regional functional enablement. This research introduces the agile energy model, which employs business processes for energy evaluation and optimisation of MMC's. The agile energy model is generic and reproducible requiring limited technical expertise, data and time, whilst integrating human behaviour in a transparent energy evaluation process. The agile energy model maximises on current energy evaluation tools limitations, delivering a dynamic option in MMC energy evaluation and optimisation.