Industry Program

The industrial sector consumes over one-fourth of the nation's energy. Enhancing energy efficiency within this sector can significantly reduce operational costs, bolster U.S. competitiveness, and support the livelihoods of 20 million industry workers. 

Industry can dramatically reduce energy waste while providing flexibility to meet the needs of load growth. However, achieving these goals presents challenges, necessitating innovations in both the products manufactured and the methods of production. 

ACEEE has a longstanding commitment to enhancing industrial energy productivity. Over the years, we have contributed to significant advancements in reducing the energy intensity of manufacturing. In 2020, ACEEE released an overview report and initiated programs aimed at further promoting energy efficiency within industry. Since then, our research has been widely used by industry, government, regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders to increase smart investments in our energy future.  

These investments include: 

• More efficient operations in industrial facilities 
• Improved training for the workforce of the future  
• Additional support for supply chains that support industrial transitions 
• Enhanced electricity grids to facilitate growth 
• Innovative production methods to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive 

Accomplishments

• Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021
  ACEEE contributed proposals on energy and carbon efficiency programs, rallied peer organizations to support passage of the bill, and provided guidance to agencies to pursue transformative paths for industrial decarbonization.
• Energy Act of 2020
  ACEEE advocated to expand provisions for industrial RD&D and carbon reduction options, including carbon capture and utilization, and storage (CCUS) and green hydrogen.
• House Report on the Climate Crisis (2019)
  ACEEE hosted several sessions with industrial stakeholders to provide input and advised congressional staff throughout the report’s development.
• Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
  ACEEE worked with the motor industry to further refine and expand electric motor standards.
• Energy Policy Act of 2005
  ACEEE helped expand electric motor and motor-driven equipment standards, coordinating efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE)’s industrial programs and its Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program.
• Farm Bill 2002
  ACEEE advocated for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support energy efficiency and renewable energy investments in rural small businesses, ranches, and farms.
• Energy Policy Act of 1992
  ACEEE helped develop a provision that established energy efficiency
  performance standards for electric motors and motor-driven equipment.

Key Topics

Strategies

• Accelerate Adoption of Energy-Efficient and Flexible Technologies 
  Our research helps overcome technical, informational, and financial barriers by identifying practical starting points for energy-efficient upgrades, promoting pilot projects, and showcasing both energy and non-energy benefits that strengthen business cases. We take a system-wide perspective to ensure upgrades benefit industry, energy providers, and other stakeholders. 
   
• Drive Energy Management Across Industry 
  We support manufacturers and their partners in setting ambitious energy performance goals, optimizing operations, and deploying tools like strategic energy management (SEM) and smart manufacturing. 
   
• Advance Policies that Support Industrial Efficiency and Competitiveness 
  Through collaboration with more than 60 partner organizations, we identify critical industrial needs and work with policymakers and agencies to develop and implement policies that improve energy performance across the sector while enhancing global competitiveness. 
   
• Build Partnerships to Overcome Barriers and Scale Solutions 
  We bring together diverse stakeholders to address shared challenges and identify opportunities. Our convenings, including the biennial Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, foster collaboration, spark ideas, and share the latest research. 

History

ACEEE launched its industrial energy efficiency work in the early 1990s with a focus on advancing equipment efficiency, particularly for motors. It explored how utility energy efficiency programs could reduce industrial energy use. To hone policy outreach, it began building partnerships across trade associations, industry, and labor organizations. Working with partners, ACEEE has had a major impact in multiple industrial areas.    

Program Timeline

• 1990s
  • As the result of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the U.S. government enacted motor energy efficiency standards.
  • Utilities launched industrial energy efficiency programs.
  • Clinton Climate Initiative debuted, setting the first federal commitments for industrial carbon reduction.
  • Department of Energy (DOE) began Industries of the Future, an intensive program involving research on energy use and environmental effects. .
  • Many utilities launched industrial energy efficiency programs.
  • ACEEE launched the biennial Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry.
• 2000s
  • In response to the 2002 Farm Bill, USDA established the Rural Energy for America Program to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in rural businesses, including industry.
  • Industry worked with ACEEE, other advocates, utilities, and DOE to develop voluntary energy efficiency labeling of motor systems, which use almost half of industrial electricity. DOE updated and expanded standards, and utilities began using the labels.
  • In response to Hurricane Katrina’s disruption of natural gas production, DOE initiated Save Energy Now, providing technical assistance to help industrial facilities reduce their gas usage.
  • ACEEE worked with the National Academies and companies to promote smart manufacturing to improve energy efficiency and competitiveness.
• 2010s
  • Utilities expanded support for energy efficiency programs, spending $12.2 billion in 2016-2020.
  • ACEEE encouraged expansion, in scope and geographic coverage, of DOE’s successful Industrial Assessment Centers program.
  • ACEEE convened companies, trade associations, labor, and NGOs to advocate for industrial energy efficiency policies and funding that expanded the scope of DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.
  • ACEEE worked with stakeholders to launch and host the North American Strategic Energy Management Collaborative (NASEMC).
  • Nonprofit CESMII (Smart Manufacturing Institute), funded by DOE, opened.
• 2020s
  • ACEEE shifted its industrial work to focus on decarbonization. 
  • ACEEE served as the principal subcontractor to develop DOE’s Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap which is being used to drive research, investments, and deployment of low-carbon technologies.
  • As interest in electrification grew, ACEEE spurred a revitalization in RD&D and adoption of industrial heat pumps. 
  • ACEEE facilitated efforts between environmental advocates and manufacturers to estimate, label, and reduce the embodied carbon in construction materials.  
  • NASEMC hosted annual SEM summits and released SEM impact studies. 
  • ACEEE coordinated efforts among NGOs and industry to develop legislative proposals, several enacted into law, that support RD&D and implementation of industrial energy efficiency and carbon reduction technologies. 
  • ACEEE developed legislative proposals, introduced in the 117th Congress, to boost funding for DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office, develop industrial clusters, promote  industrial heat pumps, speed the commercialization of low-carbon technologies, and deploy clean industrial facilities.