Industrial Energy Efficiency Milestones in 2012

As we bid farewell to 2012 and welcome the arrival of 2013, it’s worth looking back at the many milestones achieved for industrial energy efficiency over the past year.

Passage of the American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act

The American Energy Manufacturing Technical Corrections Act (H.R. 6582) was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama this past month, signaling bipartisan agreement that energy efficiency is a cost effective way of improving American competitiveness and sustainability.

White House Executive Order on Combined Heat and Power

On Aug. 31, the Obama Administration announced an Executive Order, Accelerating Development in Industrial Energy Efficiency. The order encourages the adoption of combined heat and power (CHP) systems by industrial and commercial users by promoting a slate of measures that aim to increase America’s 82GW CHP base by 40GW over the next eight years. Efforts to accelerate investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP will be encouraged, while state and federal agencies will generate best practices and provide technical guidance to hasten adoption of CHP. The order directs the development of workshops and incentives that encourage the use of CHP in addition to best practices and technical guidance among other efforts.

A pilot program in Ohio is currently being run with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio using DOE's Boiler MACT Technical Assistance Program to assist in CHP deployment as a pathway toward Boiler MACT compliance. Using energy efficiency measures such as CHP to comply with Clean Air Act regulations offers industrial firms an avenue that maximizes efficient use of fuels and can enable wider CHP implementation across the country.

Advanced Manufacturing Office Initiatives

2012 saw the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) of the Department of Energy (formerly the Industrial Technologies Program) launch a pair of initiatives designed to spur the development of advanced efficient industrial technologies:  $54 million in grants to 13 projects on the cutting edge of industrial energy efficiency and a $26 million inter-agency program to develop and strengthen efficient smart manufacturing clusters. Through these programs, efforts undertaken by manufacturers, universities, and private researchers to improve industrial energy efficiency will be significantly boosted.

In addition, AMO finalized and published the long-awaited second edition of the steam system sourcebook, Improving Steam System Performance: A Sourcebook for Industry. This new steam system sourcebook updates detailed overviews of steam systems and energy efficiency solutions along with discussions on the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard and a database of energy efficiency incentives.

U.S. CEEM Continues to Grow

The U.S. Council for Energy-Efficient Manufacturing increased its membership by nine members—nearly doubling the size of the Council. In addition, U.S. CEEM began to take a greater role outside of informing the development of SEP by participating in conferences and developing a mechanism to establish energy efficiency guidance documents for manufacturers.

Superior Energy Performance Continues to Develop

The Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program continued its current demonstration phase by building on the successful initial pilot phase during 2010. These demonstration plants have achieved striking results, with the Volvo plant in Dublin, Va., achieving energy performance improvements of over 25%. In 2012, six more demonstration plants achieved SEP certification with a mean energy intensity improvement of 12.4%.

Better Plants Program Continues to Grow

The Department of Energy’s Better Buildings, Better Plants program continues to yield significant energy savings. With 10 major manufacturers fully participating in the Better Plants Challenge (representing 297 manufacturing sites), and a total of 114 companies recognized as partner companies, the program continues to help a growing number of industrial companies maximize energy efficiency. In the case of Legrand North America the Better Plants Challenge has facilitated the company’s ability to reduce its energy intensity by more than 20%.

Alliance Industrial Intern Evan Perkins was a major contributor to this article.