The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released Tuesday a report on energy use in major manufacturing sectors and its environmental impact, saying energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions across several of the reviewed sectors will increase sharply in coming years.
The report provides a general overview of the barriers to energy efficiency and use of clean fuel technologies, and offers some possible policy options for government to help address these barriers. The researched manufacturing sectors account for approximately 85 percent of all U.S. industrial energy use.
The report analyzes each sector’s current energy consumption trends and the associated environmental impacts, specifically emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide. Under a “business-as-usual” scenario, energy consumption across several of the reviewed sectors will increase from 2004 levels by 20 percent by 2020 and carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 14 percent.
The 12 sectors analyzed are aluminum, cement, chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, forest products, iron and steel, metal casting, metal finishing, motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle parts manufacturing, petroleum refining, and shipbuilding.
To review the entire report, click here.