Ripe for the Picking: Have We Exhausted the Low-Hanging Fruit in the Industrial Sector?

This April 2006 study analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) program database to determine whether the abundant, low-cost efficiency opportunities available to industrial facilities in the ’70s still exist today. The short answer is “yes” according to the report, which estimates that implementing cost-effective energy efficiency measures today could save up to 18% of U.S. industrial electricity use. The report concludes that “industrial energy efficiency opportunities are fruits born by a healthy, growing tree” — indeed ripe for the picking.