Skip Navigation to main content U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable EERE Home
Industrial Technologies Program
 
About the ProgramProgram AreasInformation ResourcesFinancial OpportunitiesTechnologiesDeploymentHome
Energy Intensive Industries Aluminum Chemicals Forest Products Glass Metal Casting Mining Petroleum Refining Steel
Crosscutting Technologies Combustion Distributed Energy Energy Intensive Processes Fuel and Feedstock Flexibility Industrial Materials for the Future Nanomanufacturing Sensors & Automation
Emerging Technologies
Commercial Successes

Industry is the largest and most diverse energy-consuming sector in the United States, but it is often unable to accept the risks associated with the capital-intensive technology development required to decrease its energy use. The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) can help to mitigate that risk. By supporting public-private partnerships, we bring together the strengths of business and government to meet the challenges of improving energy efficiency.

ITP and our industry partners have created an effective model for technology development. First, industry defines a vision and long-term goals. Next, we work together to build technology roadmaps with specific research and development pathways. Finally, ITP and industry share the costs of research and development (R&D) projects specified by those roadmaps and reach the common goals of improving not only energy efficiency, but economic viability, energy security, environmental quality, and resource conservation. ITP's efforts have resulted in over 160 technologies successfully reaching the marketplace, providing significant economic and environmental impacts for the United States.

Energy Intensive Industries 

The specific industrial process required often determines energy use in industry. For example, the aluminum industry uses large amounts of electricity for smelting while the glass industry uses large amount of natural gas to melt silica in furnaces. With our Energy Intensive Industries process, ITP focuses specific R&D on the nation's eight most energy-intensive industries—aluminum, chemicals, forest product, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum refining, and steel. Through the development of new technologies and processes in the Energy Intensive Industries, we expect to save 2.0 quads of energy and $7.9 billion, and to avoid 36.7 million metric tons carbon equivalent (MMTCE) of climate change gases by 2020.

Emerging Technologies 

As a measure of the success of the Energy Intensive Industries and crosscutting R&D strategies, ITP currently has more than 120 technologies that are emerging from research and development and are expected to be ready for commercialization within the next one to two years. Of these, more than 50 have been identified as being immediately ready for field testing.

Crosscutting Technologies 

Crosscutting technologies are common to most manufacturing processes, and have widespread benefits to many different industries. Because these crosscutting technologies are so widely used, a small improvement in efficiency can yield large energy savings across many industries. By performing R&D on crosscutting technologies, and implementing successful results, ITP estimates industry could save .8 quads of energy and $3.4 billion, and avoid 13.2 MMTCE of climate change gases by 2020.

ITP Commercial Successes 

ITP tracks energy savings as well as other benefits associated with the successfully commercialized technologies resulting from its research partnerships. Our Impacts report summarizes some of these benefits including energy savings, waste reduction, increased productivity, lowered carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions, and improved product quality.

Other EERE Programs

The Industrial Technologies Program is integral to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and works hand in hand with other EERE sectors. Our industrial technologies can benefit from, and contribute to, research and development efforts across EERE. For a complete list of other EERE Programs, visit the EERE Home Page.