Manufacturing energy use: room for improvement.

The U.S. EPA has released a report that outlines energy use trends in 12 manufacturing sectors representing about 85% of total industrial energy use in the country. Energy Trends in Selected Manufacturing Sectors shows that industry has significant opportunities for improving its environmental performance through adopting energy-efficient and clean-energy technologies. The report also projects that with a "business-as-usual" scenario, total energy consumption of the sectors studied could increase by 20% over 2004 levels in the next 13 years, and that CO2 emissions could increase by 14%. The EPA further determined that use of renewable fuels in industry is now higher than in the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors, and is growing.

edited by Erin E. Dooley