Two-thirds of greenhouse emissions come from the production of power and heat. Although the industrial sector by far uses (and wastes) the most energy, efficiency advocates concentrate almost exclusively on homes and commercial offices. But in fact, manufacturing facilities provide the biggest chance to slash emissions while simultaneously reducing energy bills.

Read more about how waste heat recovery and cogeneration would allow our nation’s industrial sector to become far more efficient.

As Ratigan points out, “No matter what we do to source our energy, efficiency is the fastest way to begin addressing the actual energy problem… Combined heat and power [is] a proven game changer.”

Casten also stressed the usefulness of combined heat and power  and other energy recycling processes like waste heat recovery to ensure a more energy-efficient America. “We really need to understand that the issue is our utility and regulatory system. Utilities got to 34 percent efficiency when Eisenhower was in the White House. They’re at the same level today. We throw away two-thirds of the energy and it causes many of the problems we have… You [need to] build power plants where you can recycle the heat the way Edison did… Efficiency has to be the fuel of the future.” Watch video.

Honey Lake’s giving us a new way to do what we do best: take energy that would otherwise be wasted and convert it into clean power and processed steam, i.e., recycling energy. Whether recycling heat that would otherwise be thrown away at a metals plant or recycling biomass waste that would clog landfills, the principal is the same.

We’re going to put our capital and our team’s extensive clean energy expertise to work enhancing the plant’s efficiency and production. These enhancements could reduce California CO2 emissions by 44,000 metric tons per year. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 8,000 cars off the road. Sweet.

The talk was put together by an excellent organization called the COMPETE Coalition, and my fellow panelists included representatives from FERC, NDN, and the Galvin Electricity Initiative. The consensus: to truly unleash innovation, government needs to set goals for clean energy and energy efficiency and let markets meet the challenge.

Reality-based thinking may seem novel these days, but it was in abundance at this summit. Our own Tom Casten joined a panel on alternative energies moderated by TIME’s Bryan Walsh. Although Tom’s beat is combined heat and power, improving our world’s energy predicament will require creative solutions from all quarters. It needs them urgently.

• “Output standards” for emissions, so that regulators look at how much pollution is released per unit of energy generated, rather than the current rule of basing it on how much fuel is used. This change would encourage efficiency rather than penalizing it.
• A “clean energy standard offer” for federal electricity purchases, so the government gives preferential treatment to clean, efficient energy options.
• A “regulatory modernization committee” to transform our energy system from a Hummer into a hybrid.

Check out more of my ideas for promoting energy efficiency through CHP and waste energy recovery.

The event is entitled Gray Is the New Green: How Energy Recycling Curbs Both Global Warming and Power Costs. It will take place February 21 at 8:30am in San Diego.

The panelists include several renowned energy experts:

• Tom, who will discuss the economics of clean energy by comparing the costs of 14 clean energy options such as wind, solar, nuclear, and cogeneration. Casten will argue that improving “generation efficiency” has the greatest potential to benefit the economy while reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
• Lester Lave, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and co-director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center. He will report on the work of a committee on energy efficiency that he recently chaired for the National Academy of Sciences. Among other things, Lave will report that the U.S. could bring total energy use back to mid-1980s levels simply through energy efficiency.
• Marilyn Brown, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and former leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She will discuss the many policy barriers to energy efficiency and present policy suggestions to help overcome these barriers. Her recommendations will be based on her own research and emphasize the imperative of serving current economic needs without blocking efficiency investments.
• Lawrence Ambs, professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and co-director of the Northeast Regional Combined Heat & Power Application Center. He will serve as the symposium’s discussant, or moderator.

Those who are familiar with RED’s work know the basic contours of Tom’s argument, which is this. The U.S. energy system is grossly inefficient. The typical power plant throws away two-thirds of its energy, largely in the form of waste heat, when producing electricity. This abysmal rate, while tragic, presents an opportunity: increasing the efficiency of our energy system would help enable us to stave off the catastrophic effects of climate change while increasing national income and improving the quality of life.

Tom has never before presented to the AAAS, so this is an exciting opportunity.

Here at RED, we like to come up with good policy proposals that would allow the nation to mitigate climate change while slashing energy costs. But politics can throw a monkey wrench into the most finely reasoned policy argument. Read Sean’s take on the policy fixes needed to unleash clean energy.