About Industrial Energy Efficiency Opportunities
Most industrial facilities have many opportunities to reduce their energy consumption through improved efficiency -- reducing energy costs and helping improve competitiveness while reducing carbon dioxide and other air emissions. Some of the main obstacles to improved energy efficiency include shortages of staff and capital, and often a lack of trained staff or technical expertise.
SWEEP’s Role in Industrial Energy Efficiency
SWEEP plays an active role in encouraging industrial energy efficiency improvements, through research into technologies and energy management practices, promoting improvements to utility industrial energy efficiency programs, and facilitation of industrial energy efficiency networks in Colorado and Utah.
Understanding Your Facility’s Energy Use
One of the first steps towards reducing energy consumption at your facility is to analyze and create a breakdown of monthly and annual energy consumption and costs, for both electricity and natural gas. This breakdown will highlight areas on which to focus the most efforts for energy efficiency improvements.
Source: U.S. EIA, Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey, 2006
The breakdown of energy consumption in industrial facilities varies considerably by industry type. A plant that produces frozen vegetables uses large amounts of electricity for refrigeration, while a plant that heat-treats metal uses lots of natural gas to fire furnaces.
This figure shows the breakdown of energy consumption by end-use, for all industrial sectors combined, and indicates a breakdown for a “typical” industrial facility in the U.S.
Energy Efficiency Opportunities by Industrial End Use
Some opportunities to save energy are specific to your type of industry and your processes. However, many opportunities can apply to any facility, such as those described in the following sections: