WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that a three-day Industrial Energy Saving Assessment (ESA) is taking place at the W.R. Grace facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  This is part of the comprehensive national energy efficiency effort undertaken by the Bush administration.  Through no-cost assessments, DOE is working with major manufacturing facilities to identify energy- and money-saving opportunities, primarily by focusing on steam and process heating systems.

“President Bush has called on all Americans to be more energy efficient.  Private industry is joining the federal government to take a leading role in this effort,” Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said.  “DOE’s Energy Saving Teams have played, and will continue to play, a key role in assessing and recommending energy efficiency strategies for some of the largest industrial facilities across the nation.”

W.R. Grace’s Lake Charles plant produces fluid cracking and hydroprocessing catalyst products used by the petroleum refining industry.  Fluid cracking catalysts are used to break down the heavy part of crude oil into lighter fractions like gasoline, and hydroprocessing catalysts are used to clean up impurities.

DOE’s Energy Saving Teams have completed 33 visits to large federal facilities and are in the process of visiting 200 of the most energy-intensive manufacturing facilities in the United States as part of the national “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign launched by Secretary Bodman on October 3, 2005.

The first 115 ESAs have identified, in aggregate, over $288 million per year in potential energy cost savings and could reduce natural gas consumption by over 31.4 trillion Btu per year; equivalent to the natural gas consumed by over 436,000 typical homes.  The potential natural gas and electricity savings are equivalent to reducing over 0.49 million tons of carbon emissions.

Six months after receiving an ESA, eleven plants have reported implementing over $28 million per year in energy savings, reducing natural gas consumption by over 3.5 trillion Btu per year.  In addition, six of the eleven report replicating the result of the ESA in other plants, adding savings of over $2.9 million and  nearly 0.30 trillion Btu per year.

Companies interested in accessing DOE energy saving resources can get more details at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/ and request brochures detailing “15 Tips to Help Your Plant Save Energy.”

For tips on easy, inexpensive steps consumers can take to lower their energy bills this summer, please visit http://www.energysavers.gov/ or call DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Hotline at 1-877-337-3463.

Media contact(s):
Chris Kielich, (202) 586-5806