Toward Energy Efficient Manufacturing Enterprises

Industrial enterprises have significant negative impacts on the global environment. Collectively, from energy consumption to greenhouse gases to solid waste, they are the single largest contributor to a growing number of planet-threatening environmental problems. According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, the industrial sector consumes 30% of the total energy and the transportation sector consumes 29% of the energy. Considering that a large portion of the transportation energy costs is involved in moving manufactured goods, the energy consumption of the industrial sector could reach nearly 45% of the total energy costs. Hence, it is very important to improve the energy efficiency of our manufacturing enterprises. In this chapter, we outline several different strategies for improving the energy efficiency in manufacturing enterprises. Energy efficiency can be accomplished through energy savings, improved productivity, new energy generation, and the use of enabling technologies. These include reducing energy consumption at the process level, reducing energy consumption at the facilities level, and improving the efficiency of the energy generation and conversion process. The primary focus of this chapter is on process level energy efficiency. We will provide case studies to illustrate process level energy efficiency and the other two strategies.