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Image of a chart showing U.S. Manufacturing Sector Total Energy Input for Heat and Power: 24658 Trillion British thermal units (Btu)
Energy Footprints help companies benchmark plant-wide energy use and loss, and identify opportunities for energy and cost savings.

Industrial energy systems account for roughly 80% of all energy used by industry. On average, 35% of that energy is lost—nearly 6 quads of energy every year. As much as 1.6 to 3.2 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) could be saved by improving the efficiency and reducing energy losses in these systems (10-20% reduction in energy use).

Energy systems include combustion, steam, process heating, combined heat and power, compressed air, motors, pumps and fans—systems that are used throughout industry.

The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) also seeks energy-saving opportunities in the supporting industries that supply products or services to or perform downstream processing for a variety of other industries. These supporting industries include the following: heat treating, welding, forging, powder metallurgy, advanced ceramics, and carbon products.

Energy Systems Analysis 

ITP conducts analysis of energy use and loss to identify energy savings opportunities for industrial energy systems. Due to inefficiencies, energy losses in these systems amount to several quadrillion Btus and billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. The opportunity assessments are used by plants to benchmark their energy use and loss, and to set priorities for improvement. In addition, the assessments are used by ITP to identify R&D priorities for energy loss reduction and recovery.

Tool Development 

ITP develops and maintains software tools to help plants identify energy savings opportunities in industrial energy systems used throughout their plants. ITP's BestPractices Subprogram provides valuable tools, training, and information to help plants save energy today.

Steam, Process Heating, Compressed Air, Motors, Pumps, and Fans 

The Steam, Process Heating, Compressed Air, Motors, Pumps, and Fans systems consume a very large portion of the U.S. industrial energy end use. However, significant energy savings through efficiency improvements can be achieved.

Combustion 

ITP works closely with the industrial combustion community to pursue R&D for combustion systems used to generate the steam and heat that are vital to most manufacturing processes. For example, heating metals and chemical feedstocks to change their mechanical and chemical properties.

Industrial Combined Heat and Power 

ITP works with DOE's Distributed Energy Program to support increased use of CHP technologies in industry. The ITP combustion activity is a component of this integrated effort.

Supporting Industries 

Supporting industries include heat treating, forging, welding, powder metallurgy, advanced ceramics, and carbon products. ITP assists these supporting industries to improve energy utilization and reducing waste, while they strive to improve global competitiveness.

Solicitations 

ITP awards cost-shared funding for R&D projects through a competitive solicitation process. R&D projects are performed by collaborative partnerships and address top opportunities for energy savings and help realize national goals for energy and the environment.