Reducing energy consumption in the industrial sector is a critical issue for energy efficiency advocates.
But a few companies have raised the bar. They are part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Save Energy Now LEADER program, a national initiative that aims to drive a reduction of 25% or more in industrial energy intensity in 10 years.
During the second half of the Opening Plenary Session, panelists discussed energy efficiency policies, programs and developments from a federal perspective.
EE Global 2010 kicked off today with its opening plenary session, “Ideas, Intersections and Solutions to Power an Energy-Efficient Economy.” The first half featured a panel of speakers discussing local perspectives on energy efficiency, while the second half featured insights from the federal perspective.
Paul Bostrom, Alliance to Save Energy
Often, energy efficiency is perceived as a competing interest to other imperatives such as production targets and environmental or safety compliance.
Within the industrial sector, this is usually not the case.
Time and again, improving energy efficiency in industrial and manufacturing facilities yields significant energy cost savings. It can lower equipment maintenance costs and emissions while increasing productivity and profitability.
In fact, energy efficiency represents a key opportunity to advance U.S. competitiveness and create manufacturing jobs, all while making progress toward sound national energy and climate goals.
Hon. Lena Ek, Member of European Parliament (Sweden), Speaker, Executive Dialogue Session 3A: Buildings
The possibilities for using energy efficiency to promote growth and good governance of our planet are close to limitless. An excellent example of how a municipality can promote new ways to use energy is the water heating production plant called the Gärstad Plant close to my hometown in Linköping, Sweden.
Each year, the plant processes and burns 390,000 tons of waste, which is delivered from industries and households in about 30 municipalities. The materials mainly used are renewable or recycled materials such as sorted waste, wood, waste plastic and rubber waste. The 1,000 GWh per year that is generated by the incineration is distributed through a district heating network. The network covers 90% of all apartments and 80% of all private houses in the city.