New Guidance Document: Renewable Energy for Industry

The DOE Better Plants team has released a new free resource, the Renewable Energy Guidance for Industry. Learn more about the guidance document in an upcoming August 2 webinar.

Better Plants partners have long known that energy efficiency is an important tool to strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, but efficiency alone is insufficient to adequately reduce demand for fossil fuels and their associated emissions. To accomplish these goals, the industrial sector must also invest in renewable energy. In addition to meeting electricity needs at industrial facilities, renewable energy technologies can also provide practical and cost-effective alternatives for process heat generation and serve as a carbon source for chemical and plastics production.

From solar to wind and geothermal to hydro, the world of renewable energy options can be hard to navigate. Renewable Energy Guidance for Industry is intended to help you learn the basics of different renewable technologies, find out how you can obtain renewable power for your organization, and discover tools and resources to help you evaluate renewable energy systems.

The Better Plants team will hold a free Implementing Renewable Energy in Industrial Facilities webinar on August 2 at 11:00AM ET. Webinar attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the guidance document and pose questions to the authors and Better Plants partners that have direct experience with implementing renewable energy technologies at industrial sites.

Use this link to register for the webinar session and save your seat.

Demand Response Guidance Is Also Available

You may also be interested in another free Better Plants resource, Demand Response in Industrial Facilities. Demand response is a consumer's ability to reduce their energy consumption when the wholesale cost of electricity in their area is high, or the reliability of the grid is at risk. To maintain the stability of the national electric grid, some utility companies work with commercial and industrial customers to reduce their load on an ad-hoc basis, while others offer “interruptible” electric rates. The guidance document will help companies understand how peak demand response programs typically operate and how they can take advantage of time-varying rates and smart technologies to reduce their energy bills – and often their greenhouse gas emissions too. Download the guidance document and learn more by watching the recent Demand Response webinar.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Buildings, Better Plants Program (Better Plants) is a voluntary energy efficiency leadership initiative for US manufacturers and water/wastewater entities. The program encourages organizations to commit to reducing the energy intensity of their US operations over a 10-year period, typically by 25%. Companies joining Better Plants are recognized by DOE for their leadership in implementing energy efficiency practices and for reducing their energy intensity. Industrial organizations may also partner with DOE via the Better Climate Challenge, in which organizations set ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, typically 50% over a 10-year period.