Modern manufacturing uses ‘alarming’ amount of energy, say researchers

clipped from www.energyefficiencynews.com Many modern manufacturing methods use an ‘alarming’ amount of energy, according to a study by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study reveals that new manufacturing methods consume, per pound of output, anywhere from 1000 to one million times more energy than traditional industrial processes. The research team looked at 20 different processes from heavy duty traditional industries such as cast iron to the high-tech manufacture of solar panels. “The seemingly extravagant use of materials and energy resources by many newer manufacturing processes is alarming and needs to be addressed alongside claims of improved sustainability from products manufactured by these means,” says Timothy Gutowski and his colleagues in the report. Traditionally, manufacturers have been worried more about price, quality and cycle time than the energy used by the process. But with a new focus of attention on energy usage and emissions, this could have to change.