http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/articles/i/5348/?cid=3

As US President Barack Obama begins his campaign for re-election, he has promised help to encourage new investment in industrial energy efficiency.

The initiative aims to achieve the deployment of 40 GW of cost-effective combined heat and power (CHP), where a single system can provide both thermal energy and electricity, by 2020.

The US industrial sector currently accounts for over 30% of the country's total energy consumption, and for many manufacturers energy costs are crucial to competitiveness.

But according to the White House Executive Order, there is currently under investment in industrial energy efficiency and CHP, which could both reduce business' energy costs and air pollution.

The initiative, which aims to spur a 50% increase on current levels, could lead to greenhouse gas emission savings of 150 million tons a year and save manufacturers up to $100 billion in energy costs over the next ten years.

The President wants to see departments and agencies come together to encourage the adoption of CHP and other industrial energy efficiency measures, provide technical assistance to manufactures and public information about the benefits of these technologies.

The Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, together with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council, the Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Science and Technology Policy will coordinate the effort.