Factories and other industrial energy users could make significant improvements in energy efficiency, saving money, cutting energy demand and reducing carbon emissions.

But the same measures that help homes and commercial businesses lower their energy use aren’t necessarily viable or attractive for industries, and energy efficiency isn’t always a priority for manufacturers dealing with myriad financial and technological challenges.

So the national non-profit Advanced Energy Economy Institute and other advocates are trying to push the issue of industrial energy efficiency to the forefront and to involve industrial users in policy and technology efforts, including through a series of roundtable discussions with industrial customers, utilities and other stakeholders in Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The next event in Illinois will be held on October 11.

The institute also held a meeting in Illinois in August in conjunction with the Clean Energy Trust and Northwestern University’s law school and Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern.

Read the full story. (Midwest Energy News)