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 (DOE's) Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT), within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has been working with industry since 1976 to encourage the development and adoption of new, energy-efficient technologies. OIT's cost-shared research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), technology transfer, and information-sharing efforts have helped industry not only use energy and materials more efficiently but also improve environmental performance, enhance product quality, and increase productivity. To help OIT determine the impacts of its programs, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducts a periodic review and analysis of the benefits of OIT programs. PNNL contacts vendors and users of OIT-sponsored technologies that have been commercialized, estimates the number of units that have been penetrated the market, and conducts engineering analysis, in conjunction with the vendors/users, to estimate energy savings associated with the new technologies. Estimates of air pollution and carbon emission reductions are then estimated (based on energy savings as well as process changes that have environmental benefits). This paper will discuss the results of the most recent PNNL review (conducted in 2000). In total, the commercialized technologies resulting from OIT's R&D programs and other OIT activities (such as work conducted by the Industrial Assessment Centers) have resulted in a cumulative energy savings over the period 1976-1999 equal to 1.6 quads, with a net cost savings of$3.2 billion.