MIT centers, laboratories, departments and programs provide a multi-faceted approach to solving the world's energy challenge.
Industrial
energy efficiency
Industrial processes consume about one third of the total U.S. energy supply. In the industrial sector, energy intensity — the energy used per dollar of goods produced — is expected to continue to decline, as it has in recent decades. Many manufacturers have developed less energy-intensive methods of making their products, thereby reducing their emissions as well. However, industry remains a large energy consumer and a significant source of both conventional pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, extremely high energy costs during the past several years, particularly for natural gas, have been forcing major industries to shut down or to move their operations overseas.
Innovations such as high-performance heat transfer materials and efficient heat-removal technologies have the potential to dramatically reduce industrial energy consumption and improve the energy economics for major industries. New technologies can increase energy efficiency and simultaneously curb waste and emissions while lowering costs.
