Manufacturers often rely on energy-intensive technologies and processes. AMO conducts a range of analyses to explore energy use and trends by sector, technology, or system.
ENERGY DATA AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGIES
Manufacturing Energy Bandwidth Studies
Starting in 2013, AMO developed and refined a consistent methodology for bandwidth studies such that comparisons could be made across the manufacturing sector. Energy Bandwidth Studies analyze energy use and the potential for energy savings in various processes for selected manufacturing sectors. The studies estimate potential energy savings by calculating differences among the typical energy consumption levels for a specific process and lower consumption levels based on the use of state-of-the-art technology and technology currently under research and development. Bandwidth studies are available for the following sectors:
- Advanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS)
- Aluminum
- Carbon Fiber
- Cement
- Chemicals
- Food and Beverage
- Glass
- Glass Fiber
- Iron and Steel
- Magnesium
- Mining*
- Petroleum Refining
- Plastics and Rubber
- Pulp and Paper
- Seawater Desalination
- Titanium
*This report was completed before the consistent bandwidth was developed and the methodology may vary.
Related AMO-contributed Analysis Products
Advanced Manufacturing Technology Assessments (2015)
- Additive Manufacturing
- Advanced Materials Manufacturing
- Advanced Sensors, Controls, Platforms and Modeling for Manufacturing
- Combined Heat and Power Systems
- Composite Materials
- Critical Materials
- Direct Thermal Energy Conversion Materials, Devices, and Systems
- Materials for Harsh Service Conditions
- Process Heating
- Process Intensification
- Roll-to-Roll Processing
- Sustainable Manufacturing - Flow of Materials through Industry
- Waste Heat Recovery Systems
- Wide Bandgap Semiconductors for Power Electronics
AMO Strategic Analysis Team Manufacturing, Materials and Life Cycle Energy Tools
AMO’s manufacturing, materials, and lifecycle energy tools use a cross-sector and prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) approach that anticipates future benefits and impacts. These tools consider at all lifecycle phases (material, manufacturing, freight and distribution, use phase, and end of life) as well as evaluate the energy impacts of the U.S. supply chain.
Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) Tool – The Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) online tool (currently available in beta), developed by NREL, helps identify and analyze opportunities to reduce the energy and carbon intensities of the U.S. industrial sector. Users can perform process comparisons, material substitutions, and grid modifications and can see the effects of implementing potential sector-level energy efficiencies. Key MFI tool outputs are fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion. Fossil fuel consumption is divided into fuel for electricity generation, industrial process fuel, transportation fuel, and fuel used as chemical feedstock.
Life Cycle GreenHouse Gas, Technology and Energy through the Use Phase (LIGHTnUP) Tool – The Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas, Technology and Energy through the Use Phase (LIGHTnUP) tool, developed by LBNL, helps estimate forecasts of both the manufacturing sector and product lifecycle energy consumption implications of manufactured products across the U.S. economy. A user guide is available for this tool.
The tool incorporates publicly available historic and projection datasets to form a business-as-usual (BAU) projection of U.S. economywide energy use including manufacturing, buildings operations, electricity generation, and transportation. Based on minimal user inputs, the tool projects the energy, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy expenditure (i.e., economic spending to purchase energy) and calculates the net difference relative to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis as an output graph and table. The tool is not an optimization or equilibrium model and therefore does not select technologies or deployment scenarios automatically. Instead, projections can reflect detailed engineering calculations, future targets and goals, or creative insights, and inputs can be calculated internally using calculation steps, or externally and copied into the tool.
Because forecasts are inherently uncertain, the user can create an unlimited number of scenario alternatives to the BAU projection as sensitivity cases highlighting the most dominant variables with the greatest effect on net changes to the BAU. The tool allows the user to create multiple scenarios that can reflect a range of possible future outcomes. However, reasonable scenarios require careful attention to assumptions and details about the future. The tool provides a transparent and uniform system of comparing manufacturing and use phase impacts of technologies and provides documentation to communicate results.
Plant Water Profiler Tool - Excel, Beta Version (PWPEx v0.1) – The Plant Water Profiler (PWP) Tool (currently available in beta) was developed by ORNL to help manufacturing facilities:
- Understand the procurement, use, and disposal of water in their plants
- Understand the “true cost” of water, i.e., the costs associated with water procurement, treatment, and consumption and wastewater disposal
- Identify opportunities for reducing water use and achieve associated cost savings
The PWP Tool conducts water balance to break down the total plant water intake, wastewater disposal, and “true cost “of water by individual water-using systems in the facility. Thus, it helps management identify systems that contribute most towards source water intake versus “true cost” and enables efforts to prioritize water efficiency measures. Results can also be used to establish a baseline and track water use during subsequent years.
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Energy Estimator Tool – The Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Energy Estimator, developed by ORNL, allows users such as composite researchers and manufacturers to quickly estimate the embodied energy use of composite manufacturing processes and compare to other conventional processes.
Additive Manufacturing (AM) Energy Impacts Assessment Tool – Additive manufacturing (AM) processes enable the manufacture of optimized parts with minimal material requirements, and the products manufactured using the AM processes have the potential to reduce energy over a product’s entire lifespan. The Additive Manufacturing Energy Impacts Assessment tool, developed by ORNL, assesses the lifecycle energy of an additively manufactured product by considering energy used in the material, manufacture, freight and distribution, use, and the disposal phases. The intended users of the AM Energy Impacts Assessment Tool are researchers, funding agencies, and the technical staff working in AM industry. The accompanying guidebook describes in detail a methodology behind calculating the lifecycle energy consumption and savings for additively manufactured products.
Visit our Technical Partnerships page to learn about partner programs, software tools, training, technical publications, and other guidance to help with energy analysis of plant systems. For more sector-specific resources, see our Industries and Technologies page.