The Department of Energy announced recently that it has signed with China’s National Development and Reform Committee a memorandum of understanding that aims to increase energy efficiency in China’s industrial sector, which accounts for 70 percent of the country’s total energy demand. According to a DOE press release, this agreement could boost exports of related U.S. equipment and services to China. “As global energy use continues to rapidly increase, the U.S. is working to identify ways to increase industrial energy efficiency both domestically and across the globe,” said Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs Karen Harbert. “Our U.S. industry has significant expertise and products that can improve energy efficiency in China.”
The MOU provides that a DOE team of industrial energy efficiency experts, along with an NDRC counterpart team, will conduct on-site audits of production processes and plant energy systems at up to 12 facilities from the top 1,000 energy enterprises in China. The DOE will provide the tools to conduct these audits and train factory personnel on audit techniques. The department will subsequently conduct a comparison study of these Chinese enterprises and U.S. manufacturing plants to identify differences in best practices. In addition, training sessions will be held in the U.S. to familiarize Chinese energy-saving management personnel in the public and private sectors with U.S. laws, policies, advanced procedures and technologies, and best practices in this area.
