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:

  • Reduce manufacturing energy costs 

  • Increase global competitiveness in emerging clean-energy industries 

  • Provide the basis for innovative new green products 

  • Improve sustainability 

  • Create jobs for current and next-generation workers 

 

In close collaboration with industry, academia, and government, the 17 manufacturing innovation institutes in the Manufacturing USA network are developing next-generation digital and other innovative technologies to reduce energy use and decrease emissions.

Graphic showing a long power cord with industrial buildings, wind turbines, solar panels, butterflies, and birds coming out of the cord connected to the Earth

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: 

Photo of a vehicle chassis equipped with sensors. REMADE has done projects at the intersection of aluminum recycling and the increased demand for aluminum in the automotive industry to accommodate electric vehicles and their battery packs.

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.  

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: Adobe. Two Engineers Uses Digital Tablet to Connect with High-Tech Machinery, Robot Arm and Visualize Maintenance and Diagnostics of Equipment

 

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. 

 

 

 

Photo of a high-tech bridge in north-central Tennessee that is equipped with a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material bridge deck embedded with fiber optic sensors.

 

 

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. 

Related Events

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Circular Economy, Digital Manufacturing, Energy, Event
The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference offers attendees a view of the future. It celebrates innovation and technology and provides a forum for creative thinkers to discuss what’s next and learn about the resources that can help them build the future. Representing 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the industrial sector is critical to achieving the nation’s climate goals. Digital technologies enable us to reimagine manufacturing

Our Network @ Work

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To hear directly from the institutes featured in this article, check out our panel, "Reimagining Energy Use with Digital Technologies" at SXSW on March 9. For more information, visit our event page... Read More
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America Makes Ecosystem Director Kimberly Gibson, a municipal planner by training, was involved in the national additive manufacturing institute at its inception more than 12 years ago. She saw the... Read More
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Go to Reducing Industrial Emissions to Create an Equitable Clean Energy Future

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Industry is among the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the U.S., producing an estimated 24 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. While great progress has been made –... Read More
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Manufacturing evolved in the United States through geographic clusters that produced competitive advantages in expertise, scale of operations, research prowess, and skilled labor. The origin of the... Read More
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Applying research to develop manufacturing technologies has long been a route to bridge gaps to help solve America’s challenges. That has been the case as manufacturers initially scaled mass... Read More
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The industrial sector is the backbone of America’s economy. And to manufacture the products that society relies on, industry consumes 33% of the nation’s energy and accounts for 29% of America’s... Read More
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Go to Rebuilding the Domestic Supply Chain for Semiconductors

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Imagine an electric vehicle charging experience that is just as accessible and convenient as gas fueling. It’s almost here. Researchers have used silicon carbide (SiC) technology to produce rapid... Read More
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News

Go to REMADE - Call for Papers

REMADE - Call for Papers

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REMADE is pleased to announce its Call for Papers for the 2024 REMADE Circular Economy Tech Summit & Conference, which will take place April 10-11, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Submissions from academic... Read More
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The REMADE Institute announce today that it has awarded $19.6 million in new technology research, selecting 14 new research, development and demonstration projects as part of the Institute’s latest... Read More
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External News

Rochester Institute of Technology
Circular Economy, Sustainability

Governors Island, a historical site in New York Harbor for centuries, will be the home to a new world-leading climate solutions center that will position New York City as the global leader for one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate change.

Rochester Institute of Technology will be part of “The New York Climate Exchange” (“The...

Education, Re-manufacturing, Recycling, Workforce

A national institute, led in part by Rochester Institute of Technology , this week is hosting the inaugural REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit and Conference in Washington, D.C., showcasing promising strategies and technologies for accelerating the adoption of a circular economy .

REMADE Institute , a 170-member public-private partnership...

Upcoming Events

Go to 2024 REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference

2024 REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference

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National Academy for Sciences Building
Washington, DC
United States

Go to 2024 REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference

2024 REMADE Circular Economy Technology Summit & Conference

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National Academy for Sciences Building
Washington, DC
United States

Opportunities

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Re-manufacturing, Recycling

EWD project proposals are requested for projects that align with the EWD Roadmap and are seeking to develop short courses that can be used to educate, train, and develop the incumbent workforce for careers in the circular economy.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION TOPICS:

Advanced Materials Separation Technologies

Design for Remanufacturing, Recycling, and...

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Sustainable Manufacturing

On November 4, DOE, in partnership with the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), announced $2 million in funding to advance the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies and processes across the manufacturing sector to increase productivity, save energy, and boost competitiveness across energy-intensive industries.

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Education, Recycling, Workforce

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the Reducing Embodied Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute, is announcing $600,000 in funding for the development of education and workforce development (EWD) curriculum that will work to increase the adoption of recovery, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling technologies...