Chemical Manufacturing - News & Events
American Chemistry Council Honors Energy Efficiency Award Winners
ARLINGTON, Va. (November 16, 2005) – In the face of spiraling natural gas prices, the American Chemistry Council today honored 11 of its member companies for implementing efficiency improvements in 2004 that together save enough energy to power a city the size of Minneapolis. ACC presented a total of 31 awards to these companies for their company-wide or plant-specific progress.
Charles Van Vlack, Executive Vice President of ACC, in announcing the awards during an Energy Network Meeting conducted live via the Internet, said that to solve the natural gas crisis, the U.S. has to do as much as possible to become more efficient and also must work to increase supply, diversify our fuel use and update our energy infrastructure.
Van Vlack said the award program is part of ACC's ongoing efforts to save energy, improve the environment and increase economic productivity. "It's particularly fitting to present the awards at this time of year, the beginning of the heating season," he added. "Natural gas prices are at all-time highs. Homeowners can expect their home heating bills to be at least 50% higher this winter. Experts agree that the most effective short-term response to high prices is to conserve energy and use natural gas more efficiently. Today's winners offer proof positive that it pays to invest in efficiency and conservation measures."
Van Vlack also reminded the workshop attendees that the present natural gas crisis is not new – it's been brewing since 2001. Recent hurricanes highlighted the problems, but they didn't cause it, he said. "Public policy makers exert enormous influence on the price and availability of natural gas. The manufacturing sector bears the burden of public policies that run counter to affordable, available supplies of natural gas."
Van Vlack noted that energy costs can be as high as 85 percent of total production costs for some chemical products. "These awards publicly recognize that energy efficiency projects not only reduce greenhouse gases and other emissions but also add appreciably to each company's bottom line," Van Vlack observed. It's a win-win situation for the country, he said, because "the improvements protect the environment while helping American business compete globally." The total annual energy savings represented by the 31 awards amounts to 34.2 trillion BTUs, equal to the energy needs of about 170,000 households. That's the equivalent of annual energy usage for a city the size of Sacramento or Minneapolis. Annual carbon dioxide reductions amount to about 1.8 million tons. The savings from the combined projects represent about 1.2% of total chemistry fuel and power energy use.
The awards to the 11 members are part of ACC's Energy Efficiency Continuous Improvement Program, an effort that encourages members to improve energy efficiency and minimize energy-related environmental impacts, thus strengthening international competitiveness. This year's winners were selected from five categories:
- The "Environmental Impact" award is given for initiatives with substantial environmental benefits, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to energy efficiency improvements.
- The "Energy Efficiency Program" award is given to companies with broad programs to achieve energy efficiency improvements, with components such as establishing energy teams, goal setting, communications, management support and recognition.
- The "Non-Manufacturing Improvement" award is given for improvements resulting from energy efficient lighting, insulation, other building improvements and other non-manufacturing energy efficiency improvements.
- The "Public Outreach" award is given for an effective program of involvement with the community regarding energy efficiency and related environmental impact activities.
- The "Significant Improvement in Manufacturing" award is given to companies that improve energy efficiency in their manufacturing operations through technical innovations, creative projects or novel procedures or actions.
Awards can be given at any of four levels within the company: Corporate/Business Unit, Plant Site, Operating Unit or Project.
Companies receiving awards for 2004 are:
- BASF Corporation
- Cytec Industries, Inc.
- Dow
- Dow Corning Corporation
- DuPont
- Eastman Chemical Company
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company
- Merck & Co., Inc.
- Monsanto Company
- Occidental Chemical Corporation
- Shell Chemical LP
This year, award-winning activities of five companies received the ACC's "Exceptional Merit" designation for each activity's particular excellence. The companies are BASF Corporation, Dow, Eastman Chemical Company (2), ExxonMobil Chemical Company (2), and Shell Chemical LP.
The award nominations were judged and the winners determined by a sub-group
of the ACC Energy Team, joined by Dr. W.D. Turner, Professor of Mechanical
Engineering and Director of the Energy Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M Universit
A breakdown of the 31 award-winning activities follows. An asterisk (*) denotes an Exceptional Merit award designation.
Significant Improvement in Manufacturing - Plant Site
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Beaumont, Texas Chemical Plant for Flare Purge Gas and Steam Improvements
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Beaumont, Texas Polyethylene Plant for Reduced Natural Gas Consumption by Low Pressure Flare
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baytown, Texas Chemical Plant for PCU Low Pressure Steam
- Dow Corning Corporation, Midland Plant, Michigan for Crisis to Opportunity – Learning from Power Outages
- DuPont, Sabine River, Texas Works Power Operations for Steam Turbo Generator Utilization
- Merck & Co., Inc., Danville, Pennsylvania Manufacturing Facility for Turbine Replacement to Improve Steam Distribution Efficiency and Glycol Tank and Lines Replacement to Reduce Chiller Energy
- Eastman Chemical Company, Eastman-Texas Operations, Longview for Reduce 30 psi Steam Losses at Eastman – Texas
- Eastman Chemical Company, Tennessee Eastman Company Utilities Division, Kingsport for Utilities Division Power Plant Optimization*
Significant Improvement in Manufacturing – Operating Unit
- Cytec Industries Inc., Fortier, Louisiana Plant, AMEL for Urea Process Optimization Project
- Monsanto Company, Muscatine, Iowa Plant A-Unit Manufacturing Unit for A-Unit Alcohol Column Efficiency Improvements
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Olefins Plant for OLA-2X Process Gas Compressor Re-rate Project
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Operating Unit for Critical Heat Exchanger Cleaning Online
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Beaumont, Texas Polyethylene Plant for High Pressure Peroxide Introduction*
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baytown, Texas Chemical Plant for Baytown Energy Project
Significant Improvement in Manufacturing – Project
- Occidental Chemical Corporation, OxyChem – Geismar, Louisiana for Hydrogen Recovery
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Beaumont, Texas Chemical Plant for Process Heat Integration on Aromatics Distillation Tower
- DuPont, DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise – Belle, West Virginia Plant for Gas Boiler Optimization
- Eastman Chemical Company, Arkansas Operations – Operations Services Department – Utilities Group for Reduced Electrical Usage with New Aeration System
Energy Efficiency Program – Corporate/Business Unit
- The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan for Managing Energy Efficiency Improvement*
- BASF Corporation, Freeport, Texas, NAFTA Energy Management Group, for Multi-Site Energy Reduction Through Teamwork*
Energy Efficiency Program – Plant Site
- Shell Chemical LP, Deer Park, Texas Chemical Plant for Energize Program*
- Monsanto Company, Luling, Louisiana Plant for Reduce GI Utilities Usage
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Edison, New Jersey Synthetics Plant for 2004 Energy Efficiency Improvements
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Chemical Plant for Baton Rouge Energy Management Project
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baytown, Texas Chemical Plant for KEV Console Monitoring*
- DuPont, Pencader, Delaware Energy Efficiency Team for Pencader Energy Reduction Project
- Merck & Co., Inc., Flint River Manufacturing Facility, Georgia for Steam System Best Practices
- Merck & Co., Inc., Elkton Site, Virginia for Elkton Steam and Electric Conservation Project
- Eastman Chemical Company, Voridian Columbia, South Carolina Operations, for Site-wide Energy Reduction Initiative*
Energy Efficiency Program – Operating Unit
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Baytown, Texas Olefins Plant for Back to Basics: Challenging Historical Operatiom
Public Outreach – Plant Site
- DuPont, Corpus Christi Texas Plant for Energy Use Reductions at the Corpus Christi Plant
Download Acrobat Reader
2005 Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Award Winners (PDF 58 KB)
Tabulation of Energy Savings and CO2 Emission Reductions (PDF 52 KB)
Page Last Modified:
August 7, 2008
