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Conference Sponsor Profile: Department of Energy Industries of the Future Strategy
The Industries of the Future (IOF) strategy creates partnerships between industry, government, and supporting laboratories and institutions to accelerate technology research, development, and deployment. Led by the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT), the Industries of the Future strategy is being implemented in nine of the country's most energy- and waste-intensive industries: agriculture, aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum and steel.
The effort is unique among federal programs because the IOF research agenda is almost entirely defined by the partnering industry sectors. Industry members of each cluster jointly prepare documents with the industry's vision for the future and a technology roadmap to identify the technologies that will be needed to reach that industry's goals. IOF then provides matching grants for research projects to carryout the roadmap.
To date, more than 140 first-generation technologies have been transferred to market benefitting industry and society through increased productivity and lower carbon dioxide pollutants. Other benefits include hard savings from energy efficiency gains. From 1979 to 1999, OIT initiatives saved 43.1 trillion Btus and $202 million from energy audits and improvements. Also, engineering students acquire real-life experiences on how to do audits, thereby extending their knowledge into different industries throughout their professional careers.
OIT also has created Industrial Assessment Centers or IACs to provide RD&D (research, demonstration and development of new technologies) for small and medium-sized manufacturers. Additional aid comes in the form of free audits, analyses and recommendations for efficiency improvements. The 26 university-located centers have saved these firms on average $55,000 per annum. Nearly half of IAC’s recommendations are implemented by the manufacturing plants.
The Office also administers the National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics (NICE3) and Inventions & Innovation programs. More information on the Industries of the Future and other programs of OIT — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — may be obtained by visiting http://www.oit.doe.gov/industries.shtml