Advanced Manufacturing Plays a Role in Building a Sustainable Future

Producing clean energy and using energy as efficiently as possible are both critical to reducing pollutants, slowing climate change, and reducing dependence on foreign energy. Energy efficiency is especially important to an energy-intensive industry like manufacturing. 

New clean energy technologies will:

In close collaboration with industry, academia, and government, the 18 manufacturing innovation institutes in the Manufacturing USA network are developing next-generation digital and other innovative technologies to reduce energy use and decrease emissions.

The institutes are working to deploy technological capabilities in new ways that enhance sustainability and enable the industrial sector to reduce reliance on scarce resources. A few examples include: 

REMADE and its partners are using AI to help sort aluminum in the recycling process more efficiently. This will be important to multiple industry sectors, including the automotive sector as it transitions to electric vehicles.  

CESMII’s Smart Manufacturing Interoperability Platform (SMIP) is a “plug and play” system for all of industry. It allows equipment to interact more widely and not be locked into a particular vendor. This work is vital for changing the paradigm to reduce energy consumption for all manufacturers. 

IACMI and its partners developed and installed a lightweight fiber-reinforced polymer composite material bridge deck embedded with fiber optic sensors. The bridge deck system requires less installation time, reduces energy costs during construction, and has a 100-year lifespan.

The institutes are committed to securing access to clean, cost-effective, reliable energy, which is central to the U.S. economy, job creation, sustainability, and a high quality of life. 

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