By Alex Fitzsimmons, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
October 29, 2020
One of the top priorities of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is strengthening American manufacturing competitiveness through energy efficiency. U.S. industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total energy consumption, so innovations that reduce that annual $200 billion energy bill can make a huge impact on our energy economy. Unfortunately, the risks involved in objectively validating emerging energy-saving technologies in real-world industrial environments are a major barrier to adoption.
That’s why DOE recently launched a new initiative designed to help manufacturing plants and water/wastewater treatment facilities evaluate cost-effective, innovative technologies with the opportunity for large energy savings and widespread adoption. Through the Industrial Technology Validation (ITV) pilot, experts from DOE’s National Laboratories will lead on-site testing, conduct energy-performance analysis, and draft reports validating field performance of the technology in a dynamic, industrial environment. These results will be shared broadly to help American industry understand the benefit of an emerging technology, while offsetting many of the risks associated with being a first adopter.
