December
2012 -- Since the 1970s many technologies have been developed with strong
energy-savings potential for the industrial sector. In fact, the U.S. DOE’s Advanced
Manufacturing Office has supported more than 600 RD&D projects that yielded
more than 250 technologies that are now in commercial use. However, even when
lifecycle cost-effective technologies are available, their adoption can be
uneven. As an example, the market penetration of variable speed control
technologies in the United States lags behind market penetration rates in Japan
and Western Europe. One mechanism to catalyze adoption of such technologies is
demonstrations in manufacturing plants under real-world conditions.
Setting the Stage for
Adoption
Without
credible information on successful implementation, whether from peers or
reputable third parties, energy-efficient technologies can seem risky. For
energy-efficient industrial technologies in particular, a lack of credible
information about a given technology’s success can prevent widespread adoption,
particularly if the technology is integrated with a critical process that could
jeopardize production if it does not operate as intended.
One
important pathway to facilitate technology adoption is through demonstration
projects that allow industrial end-users to assess a technology under
real-world operation conditions. In “Crossing the valley of death: Policy
adoptions to advance the uptake of energy-efficient emerging technologies in
U.S. industry” (Bostrom, et al., 2011) the authors propose a set of policy
options, including establishing regional
demonstration hubs as a mechanism to drive the diffusion of industrial
energy-efficient technologies.
Demonstrations could also be implemented at company sites where some
project funding is provided in exchange for detailed information on the
project’s impact.
Showcase Projects Highlight
Emerging Technology
The
Better Buildings, Better Plants Challenge industrial partners have as part of
their challenge-level commitment included showcase projects demonstrating their
efforts to improve energy efficiency. Briggs &
Stratton, a manufacturer of lawn mowers, generators, and other small
engines, included a demonstration of isothermal melting at its Statesboro, Ga.,
plant. Not only has Briggs &
Stratton had exchanges with General Electric and Alcoa to share technical
expertise on the technology, but guests from domestic and international
representatives from other firms have visited the site.
Isothermal
melting uses high-intensity electrical resistance heaters to melt aluminum via
conduction and convection, producing zero in-plant emissions. This melting
technology imposes relatively low capital and operating costs, requires less
floor space, and can increase energy efficiency by up to 70% compared to
conventional natural gas-fired furnaces. The process received support from DOE
as part of a technology demonstration by Apogee Technology. This demonstration
provided the technical information that gave confidence to Briggs &
Stratton to commit capital to upgrade their aluminum melting process. Richard
Feustel, Corporate Energy Manager at Briggs & Stratton noted the
demonstration’s importance, “When we begin to get into the process
improvements, the technical expertise is key—the technical expertise we
received from Apogee Technologies and the financial backing they had to obtain
to get this project off the ground was a big part of it.” In addition to
receiving expertise from Apogee, the Statesboro plant received a $45,000 grant
from Southern Company which provided additional thrust in moving forward with
the installation.
Moving forward with new
policy and approaches
The
gap between research and development and large-scale adoption of proven
technologies remains. Investments in research and development have yielded
significant technological developments that extend the potential to improve
industrial energy efficiency. However, enabling mechanisms are needed to catalyze
these technologies’ adoption in order to achieve their anticipated impacts.
Similar
to ARPA-E’s assessment of technologies that offer transformational promise in
energy generation, a parallel assessment of technologies with transformational
promise in industrial energy efficiency with low market adoption rates could
inform demonstration project technology candidates and scope. Ensuring that technologies are consistently
accompanied by demonstrations at relevant firms can provide the necessary
information to increase adoption in industry where systems impact and
operational risk of major alterations remains high.
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