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Insights from the 2005
ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry
About 250 people
attended the Summer Study,
held at West Point, New York, July 19–22, 2005. The conference featured
a large number of peer-reviewed papers and generated numerous excellent
discussions, with many of the most important occurring as informal
networking opportunities. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to concisely
summarize the many dynamic ideas and thought-processes that emerged
from an assemblage of such a diverse group of experts as this one.
Participation:
This year's event, "Cutting the High Cost of Energy," drew
the second largest group of participants since the biennial Summer
Study's inception in 1993 in Portland, Oregon. This year's conference
represents the sixth that was held in New York State in cooperation
with NYSERDA. The
theme and program were developed by the conference Co-Chairs Miriam
Pye from NYSERDA
and Gordon Slack of the Dow
Chemical Company, ably assisted by a dozen Panel
Leaders who selected and managed the reviews of nearly 100
peer-reviewed papers.
Key Organizational Participants:
The conference produced perhaps the best industrial turnout as well
as a broad representation from the international community with
participants ranging from South Africa and China to Sweden and Germany.
Companies representing the spectrum of U.S. manufacturing attended
including GM, Dow, DuPont, Rohm and Haas, Anheuser-Busch, 3M, and
Corning. We also had extensive participation by utility program
staff and consultants. Government entities from the United States
and worldwide attended including U.S. DOE and EPA, Natural Resources
Canada, NYSERDA, California Energy Commission and International
Energy Agency, among others. Of particular note is that this is
the third time the DOE's Industrial
Assessment Centers' Directors Meeting has been held in conjunction
with the Summer Study, allowing many of the IAC directors and staff
(as well as ten students) to participate in the Summer Study. The
participation of the students was extremely valuable since several
papers and plenary presenters called for more outreach to the next
generation of engineers to help educate them to transform the industrial
plants at which they may work in the future.
Key Concepts and Themes:
With energy prices so high, it was to be expected that much of the
discussion would focus on efficiency as a cost management strategy.
In addition, energy productivity, non-energy benefits (which can
be anywhere from 30 to 100 percent of anticipated energy savings),
and international competitiveness were recurring themes. Interestingly,
the concept of sustainability (the theme of the 2003 Summer Study)
has now become broadly accepted as an organizing principle by most
large companies. One recurring observation was the need to reach
out to corporate Chief Financial Officers and comptrollers in order
to add their perspectives to the Summer Study discussions. The importance
of accurate energy data and proper interpretation of models and
modeling results also received a lot of attention. The policy and
programmatic community depends highly on the accuracy of these items.
The Three Really Big Ideas:
The ideas that emerged from the discussions were:
- the importance
of improved links between the financial community and the plant
managers – and between the financial community and the energy
efficiency community more generally, as was brought home by our
closing plenary speaker Peter Garforth.
- the
need for significantly greater trust between industry and government.
My sense is that to close the efficiency and information gaps,
we also have to close this very important credibility gap.
- a
growing awareness that the industrial sector is in many ways at
the mercy of other energy-using sectors for future energy price
and availability.
Champions of Energy Efficiency in Industry:
At the Summer Study, ACEEE recognized three Champions
of Energy Efficiency: Peter Salmon-Cox, Fred Schoeneborn, and
EnSave, Inc. It perhaps reflects the maturing of the conference
and development of an industrial energy efficiency community that
a dozen nominations were received.
Thanks to the Team Who Made Summer Study Possible:
ACEEE owes the success of the Summer Study to all of the people
who contributed their time and energy: the co-chairs, the panel
leaders, the sponsors, and the organizing committee. Rebecca Lunetta
(Conferences Manager) warrants a special thank you for organizing
another seamless conference and to Glee Murray (Communications Director)
for overseeing everything. Thanks also go to Renee Nida (Editor),
for helping to assemble the proceedings and to Julie Harvell (Operations
Director) for creating the conference web site. Thanks, too, to
my colleagues Skip Laitner, Anna Shipley, and Susanne Brooks for
helping to pull together these insights.
Neal Elliott
ACEEE Industrial Program Director
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