The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced March 25 that Marathon Petroleum Corp. of Garyville, La., is among 95 facilities nationwide to earn ENERGY STAR certification in 2020 for being among the most energy-efficient in their industries. It was the only industrial plant in the state to win the award, the EPA reports in a press release.
By strategically managing their energy use, the 95 ENERGY STAR certified plants saved nearly $400 million on energy bills—equal to the payroll value of more than 8,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs. They also avoided the consumption of 80 trillion Btus of energy compared to average plants and prevented over 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to those from the energy use of nearly 600,000 homes.
Energy efficiency is an important decarbonization strategy for the industrial sector, which emits nearly a third of U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions. To make the crucial reductions in industrial greenhouse gas emissions necessary—and enable a transition to a clean energy economy—manufacturing plants must significantly increase the energy efficiency of their operations.
Plants use ENERGY STAR energy performance indicators, or, in the case of petroleum refineries, the Solomon Associates Energy Intensity Index scoring system, to assess how their energy use compares to plants with similar operating characteristics. See the entire announcement.
