With the price of oil hitting $116 per barrel in mid-April, it's not surprising that the idea of energy efficiency is taking on fresh urgency in the industrial market. The unpredictability of oil and other energy prices in recent months has put a sharp point on the need for new ways to deal with costs.
Many manufacturers have long tried to become more energy efficient. In July 2006, for example, this magazine published a cover story titled "Getting a Grip on Energy Costs" — oil was $70 a barrel at that time — that reported on manufacturers' efforts to better manage energy consumption by using technology. Manufacturers were in search of the right hardware to monitor energy usage as well as software to provide metrics associated with consumption. And, the story said, human ingenuity had to be applied to devise ways to reduce usage.
That three-step strategy continues today, but much more can be done. A recent report by Mark Halper, executive editor of MA's new European publication, Manufacturing Executive, points out, for example, that the adoption of energy-saving variable speed drives and high-efficiency motors has been slow in Europe due to higher initial costs than conventional drives and motors. Yet, the newer products can provide cost savings long term.
Using such products, which are not new to the market, is an obvious way to improve usage, but other developments in the industrial field are not so obvious. Some may even have a much narrower application than drives and motors. One such development emerged at the Hannover Fair in Germany in April. On the opening day of the fair, the winner of the annual Hermes Award was announced.