Energy and exergy utilizations of the U.S. manufacturing sector

The energy and exergy utilizations in the U.S. manufacturing sector are analyzed by considering the energy and exergy flows for the year 2002. Detailed end-use models for fourteen intensive industries are established using scattered data from the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS). Since the MECS data exhibit many gaps, data from other sources are used, as well as a number of assumptions are made to complete the models. The methodology applied and the assumptions made are clearly described so that the methods can be readily modified to fit different needs. The end-use models provide a starting point to estimate the site and embodied energy and exergy efficiencies. The average site energy and exergy efficiencies of the manufacturing sector are estimated as 63.5% and 38.8% respectively, while the embodied energy and exergy efficiencies are estimated as 52.7% and 32.1% respectively. The low efficiency values suggest that many opportunities for better industrial energy utilization still exist.