Assessing the Possible Potential in Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emission: Application of a Proven Hybrid Method

Energy evaluation together with greenhouse gas mitigation goes a long way in sustaining the growth and economy of a nation. Various evaluation methods have been adopted by researchers, academia and various country wise energy department ministries to achieve this aim. The most effective method is the hybrid evaluation method. This takes into consideration strength of a particular method to overcome the weakness of another method. This chapter focuses on a recently proven integrated method on energy and greenhouse gas studies--integrated IDA-ANN-DEA (index decomposition analysis--artificial neural network--data envelopment analysis). Case studies were exemplified using this approach in evaluating possible energy potential that could be saved in the manufacturing industries in Canada and South Africa as well as a particular food and beverage industry. Another case study focused on the amount of possible greenhouse gas that could be mitigated in the Canadian industry. The hybrid model proved very useful in its analysis.