Smart Manufacturing Helps Reduce Industrial Emissions

Humanity really started messing with the global climate system during the industrial revolution when we started burning coal to meet rising energy demand from industrial manufacturing. Most industrial energy efficiency programs target large manufacturers, which represent about 10 percent of all manufacturers and account for half of total industrial energy demand. But there still aren’t many programs out there to help small and medium manufacturers save energy through efficiency improvements, even though they constitute 90 percent of the manufacturing sector and account for the other half of industrial energy demand. Together, small, medium and large manufacturers drive about a third of harmful climate-warming emissions today.