May 23, 2008—The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Save Energy Now program has completed its 500th Energy Saving Assessment. Since 2006, teams from DOE’s Save Energy Now program have analyzed the efficiency of pumps, fans, compressed air systems, and heating and steam systems at 500 of the nation’s most energy-intensive industrial facilities. The teams use specifically targeted software to identify cost and energy savings, and then train the facility personnel to use the software, so the technology can be applied at other plants.
The energy assessments typically show saving opportunities of 5%-15% of each plant’s total energy use, which would yield an average annual savings of about $1.7 million per plant if all the opportunities were pursued, notes DOE. In total, these assessments have helped companies identify opportunities to save over an estimated 80 trillion BTUs of natural gas. If all of the recommendations are fully implemented, DOE estimates that 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved annually.
The 500th assessment was conducted at the Dow Chemical Company’s Freeport, Texas plant. Assessments were carried out at 16 of Dow Chemical’s facilities in 2006 and 2007, identifying $31 million per year in potential savings. As of April, 13 of those facilities had implemented projects that should yield $7.7 million in annual savings. Additional projects that are now in progress should yield another $7 million in annual energy savings, notes DOE.
