US industries can promote a clean energy economy
Posted by Dick Munson on July 12th, 2011
A recent study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory finds efficiency, particularly combined heat and power (CHP), would make U.S. industry become more competitive as it also cuts manufacturers’ energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. “The U.S. industrial sector,” state the researchers, “presents a large and significant opportunity to promote a clean energy economy.”
Oak Ridge sought to overcome a variety of non-technical barriers to industrial energy efficiency, including capital rationing, efficiency as a non-core investment, lack of knowledge and specialized expertise, and utility disincentives. Of its seven policy options, the laboratory highlights output-based emission standards and a federal energy portfolio standard with CHP – proposals that long have been a focus of Recycled Energy Development.
An innovative financing option is Oak Ridge’s call for tax-lien financing of industrial efficiency improvements. Also known as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), this program would allow municipalities to establish clean energy taxation districts that issue tax-free bonds for certified energy-efficiency and alternative energy projects. The federal government would offer loan guarantees to provide security for the bond purchasers as well as provide a standardized format for the application process.
For more details please read the full report – Making Industry Part of the Climate Solution.
