DOE Conducts Energy Assessments at Two Paper Mills

April 6, 2006

DOE launched industrial Energy Saving Assessments on April 6th at paper mills in Perdue Hill, Alabama, and Wallula, Washington. The Alabama River Newsprint facility manufactures 264,000 metric tons of newsprint each year, using about 70 percent virgin fiber and 30 percent recycled paper. In Washington, the Boise Cascade Wallula Mill produces 375 tons per day of paper pulp, 370 tons per day of corrugated cardboard, and 660 tons per day of fine paper. Through its free energy assessments, DOE is helping major manufacturing facilities to identify energy-saving opportunities, primarily by focusing on steam and process heating systems. For instance, a recent visit to a Caterpillar Inc. manufacturing plant in Peoria, Illinois, focused on the company's proprietary heat treatment process furnaces for its transmissions. See the DOE press releases on the visits to Alabama, Washington, and Illinois.

DOE's Energy Saving Teams have completed visits to 29 large federal facilities and 44 energy-intensive manufacturing facilities as part of the national "Easy Ways to Save Energy" campaign launched in October 2005. The first 21 industrial Energy Saving Assessments have identified a total of $64 million per year in potential energy cost savings. If implemented, these energy-saving measures could reduce natural gas consumption by more than 8 trillion Btu per year.