Energy, Cost-Savings, and Pollution-Reduction Impacts of Industrial Programs Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) has been working with industry since 1976 to encourage the development and adoption of new, energy-efficient technologies. OIT has helped industry not only use energy and materials more efficiently but also improve environmental performance, product quality, and productivity. To help OIT determine the impacts of it programs, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) periodically reviews and analyzes OIT program benefits. PNNL contacts vendors and users of OIT-sponsored technologies that have been commercialized, estimates the number of units that have penetrated the market, conducts engineering analyses to estimate energy savings from the new technologies, and estimates air pollution and carbon emission reductions. This paper discusses the most recent PNNL review (conducted in 2002). From 1976-2001, the commercialized technologies from OIT's R&D programs and other OIT activities have cumulatively saved 3.4 quads, with a net cost savings of $11.4 billion.