The Energy Department plans to spend $18.7M to establish regional Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) at five major U.S. universities.
The
IACs will work with local manufacturers to identify areas where
improved productivity, waste reduction, and energy savings can save
small manufacturers more than $130,000 per year.
- The
IACs will be established at Oklahoma State University, Georgia Tech
University, Lehigh University, Texas A&M University, and San
Francisco State University.
- Three of the programs will have
expertise in climate mitigation, including energy management, renewable
energy, industrial electrification, and waste and water management.
- The federal agency said that small manufacturers usually implement 60% of the recommendations made by IACs in the first year of collaboration.
- The funding for the IACs was authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Between
2014 and 2020, IACs identified 2.4 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide abatement opportunities, equivalent to the annual amount of
electricity used by 450,000 homes.
