Efficiency of Electricity Production Technology from Post-Process Gas Heat: Ecological, Economic and Social Benefits

Abstract

The strengthening of ecological conflicts due to the increase of the destructive impact from industrial companies on the environment provokes the development and implementation of the eco-innovation technologies. Besides, such technologies should allow obtaining not only the ecological benefits (the decrease of the negative impact on the environment) but also the economic and social advantages which correspond to sustainable development principles. This paper aims to justify the social, ecological and economic effects from implementing a new electricity production technology from post-process gas heat at companies. The data for empirical justification were obtained from the experiment of applying the electricity production technology from post-process gas heat at Polish industrial companies. In the first stage, bibliometric analysis was used for highlighting the scientific background of economic evaluation of the innovative activity on energy technologies of industrial companies and its impact on the environment and public health. Secondly, the economic and ecological efficiency of electricity production technology for the selected company was estimated. The results of the analysis confirm that new technologies allowed increasing the energy efficiency of the company by decreasing energy consumption, increasing productivity, etc. The findings prove that one of the ecological effects was the decrease of CO2 and SO2 emissions in the air. In this case, the link between the volume of CO2 emissions and the rate of morbidity if such innovative technologies were scaled was checked. The findings show that decreasing CO2 emissions by 1% leads to a decline in the death rate by 0.5%. If the new technology were scaled and implemented among similar industrial companies, it could decrease the rate of morbidity by 0.01% The results obtained could be used by the companies’ management and policymakers in the framework to achieve sustainable development goals.