Day: March 31, 2023

EPA announces most energy-efficient manufacturing plants of 2022

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announcing that 86 U.S. manufacturing plants earned the agency’s ENERGY STAR certification in 2022, a designation reserved for manufacturing plants in the top 25% of energy efficiency in their sector. Together, these plants saved over 105 trillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy and prevented more than 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the emissions from the electricity use of more than 1.1 million American homes.

“Industrial leadership in energy efficiency is critical to achieving our nation’s climate goals. The savings from ENERGY STAR certified plants demonstrate how energy efficiency is both helping our manufacturing sector reduce costs and propelling America’s transition to a clean energy future.”

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan

The industrial sector accounts for 30% of U.S. greenhouse emissions, primarily from energy use in manufacturing plants. ENERGY STAR certified plants have reduced their energy consumption through a variety of energy efficiency projects and management practices. For example:

  • Primient’s Loudon, Tenn., and Lafayette, Ind., wet corn mills reduced their CO2e emissions by installing and optimizing combined heat and power systems.
  • Ash Grove’s Seattle, Wash., cement plant automated the support equipment in their grinding mills to cease operation when the mills do.
  • Astra Zeneca’s Newark, Del., pharmaceutical plant installed a heat recovery system that reduced natural gas usage by approximately 20% and a heat exchanger that provides free chilled water during winter months.
  • General Motors’ Fort Wayne, Ind., auto assembly plant recovered waste heat from the engine jackets and exhausts ducts of its landfill gas cogeneration units, reducing the plant’s winter natural gas consumption. Additionally, the company’s Flint, Mich., assembly plant updated more than 90% of its lighting, installed light emitting diodes (LEDs) with motion sensors to decrease light levels after a period of inactivity, and continued to focus on reducing energy during non-production periods.
  • Nissan North America’s Canton, Miss., vehicle assembly plant formed a team to track compressed air leaks, leading to an annual reduction of approximately 1,700 cubic feet per minute of compressed air. The company’s Decherd, Tenn., powertrain assembly plant created scorecards to benchmark the shutdown performance of facilities, assigned countermeasures to shops not meeting targets, and provided recognition to top performers.
  • Titan America’s Troutville, Va., and Medley, Fla., cement plants have completely converted production to Portland Limestone (Type IL) cement, with up to 15% less embodied carbon than standard Portland Cement. Since 2015 the two plants also have achieved a 12% reduction in electricity use and an 18% reduction in CO2, respectively, from improved energy management.
  • Cemex’s Miami, Fla., cement plant increased its energy performance in 2022 by modifying a finish mill, optimizing the ball charge on the largest mill, and identifying and correcting potential energy losses while also increasing the production of Portland Limestone (Type IL) cement.

Manufacturing plants use EPA’s ENERGY STAR energy performance indicators or, in the case of petroleum refineries, the Solomon Associates Energy Intensity Index scoring system to assess their energy performance. Plants that score a 75 out of 100 or higher — indicating that they are more energy efficient than 75% of similar facilities nationwide — are eligible to earn ENERGY STAR certification. ENERGY STAR certification is available for 20 manufacturing sectors, from cement and steel to glass and commercial bakeries.

All ENERGY STAR certified manufacturing plants in 2022

Alabama

  • Georgia-Pacific, Brewton (integrated paper mill)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Lincoln (automobile engine)
  • Tuscaloosa Organic Baking Co (commercial bread and roll baking)

Arizona

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Phoenix (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Drake Cement, LLC, Paulden (cement manufacturing)
  • Holsum Bakery of Tolleson (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Mesa Organic Baking Co. (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Salt River Materials Group, Clarkdale (cement manufacturing)

Arkansas

  • Flowers Baking Co of Batesville (commercial bread and roll baking)

California

  • Ardagh Glass Inc., Madera (container glass manufacturing)
  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., San Luis Obispo (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Escondido (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • J.R. Simplot Company, Helm (nitrogenous fertilizer)

Colorado

GCC, Pueblo (cement manufacturing)

Rocky Mountain Bottle Company, Wheat Ridge (container glass manufacturing)

Delaware

  • AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Newark (pharmaceutical)

Florida

  • CEMEX USA, Miami (cement manufacturing)
  • Titan America, Medley (cement manufacturing)

Georgia

  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Tallapoosa (automobile transmission)

Illinois

  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Robinson (petroleum refining)
  • TreeHouse Foods, Inc., South Beloit (cookie & cracker baking)

Indiana

  • General Motors Company, Roanoke (automobile assembly)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Greensburg (automobile assembly)
  • Klosterman Baking Company, Morristown (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • New Horizons, Fremont (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Primient, Lafayette (corn refining)

Iowa

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Dubuque (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Iowa Fertilizer Company, LLC, Wever (nitrogenous fertilizer)

Kentucky

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., London (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Princeton (cookie & cracker baking)

Louisiana

  • Flowers Baking Co of New Orleans (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Garyville (petroleum refining)

Maine

  • Lepage Bakeries Park Street, LLC (commercial bread and roll baking)

Michigan

  • AbbVie, Wyandotte (pharmaceutical)
  • General Motors Company, Flint (automobile assembly)
  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Detroit (petroleum refining)

Minnesota

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Fergus Falls (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Flint Hills Resources, Pine Bend (petroleum refining)
  • Lamb Weston/RDO Frozen, Park Rapids (frozen fried potato processing)
  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Saint Paul Park (petroleum refining)

Mississippi

  • Nissan North America, Canton (automobile assembly)

North Carolina

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Gastonia (commercial bread and roll baking)

Nebraska

  • Koch Fertilizer, Beatrice (nitrogenous fertilizer)

New Jersey

  • AbbVie, Branchburg (pharmaceutical)

Nevada

  • Flowers Baking Co of Henderson (commercial bread and roll baking)

New York

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Olean (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Auburn (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Tonawanda (cookie & cracker baking)

Ohio

  • AstraZeneca, West Chester (pharmaceutical)
  • Bimbo QSR Ohio, Airport, Zanesville (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Bimbo QSR Ohio, Eastpointe, Zanesville (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Marysville (automobile assembly)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, East Liberty (automobile assembly)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Russells Point (automobile transmission)
  • Honda Development & Manufacturing of America, Anna (automobile engine)
  • Klosterman Baking Company, Springboro (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Klosterman Baking Company, Cincinnati (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Canton (petroleum refining)

Oklahoma

  • Koch Fertilizer, Enid (nitrogenous fertilizer)

Oregon

  • Dave’s Killer Bread, Milwaukie (commercial bread and roll baking)

Pennsylvania

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Sayre (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Reading (commercial bread and roll baking)

Puerto Rico

  • Merck & Co., Inc., Las Piedras (pharmaceutical)

South Carolina

  • Argos USA, Harleyville (cement manufacturing)

South Dakota

  • GCC, Rapid City (cement manufacturing)

Tennessee

  • Buzzi Unicem USA, Chattanooga (cement manufacturing)
  • Crown Bakeries, Nashville (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Crown Bakeries, Dickson (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Nissan North America, Decherd (automobile engine)
  • Primient, Loudon (corn refining)

Texas

  • AbbVie, Waco (pharmaceutical)
  • Barcel USA, Coppell (cookie & cracker baking)
  • ExxonMobil Product Solutions, Beaumont (petroleum refining)
  • Flowers Baking Co of El Paso (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Flowers Baking Co of Houston (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Flowers Baking Co of Tyler (commercial bread and roll baking)

Utah

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Salt Lake City (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Odgen (cookie & cracker baking)

Virginia

  • Lynchburg Organic Baking Co. (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Flowers Baking Co of Norfolk (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Titan America, Troutville (cement manufacturing)

Washington

  • Ash Grove Cement, Seattle (cement manufacturing)
  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Anacortes (petroleum refining)

Wisconsin

  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., Milwaukee (commercial bread and roll baking)
  • Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc., La Crosse (commercial bread and roll baking)

Wyoming

  • J.R. Simplot Company, Rock Springs (nitrogenous fertilizer)

About the ENERGY STAR Industrial Program

Since 2006, the ENERGY STAR Industrial Program has annually certified manufacturing plants for performing within the top 25% of energy performance in their industries nationwide. ENERGY STAR certification is available for 20 manufacturing sectors. More than 250 plants have achieved this distinction since 2006. For more information, see: ENERGY STAR plant certification. For a list of all certified plants, see: ENERGY STAR Certified Building and Plant Locator. To learn more about how EPA and industry work together, see: Industrial Energy Management.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations — including nearly 40% of the Fortune 500® — rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. More background information about ENERGY STAR’s impacts can be found at www.energystar.gov/impacts.

Economic Impacts of SGMA on San Joaquin Valley Dairies and Beef Cattle

Download the executive summary.

California is the leading dairy producing state with over 1.7 million cows producing over 41 billion pounds of fluid milk, accounting for around one-fifth of the U.S. supply. Operating in one of the most environmentally progressive states, California dairies are constantly improving efficiency in both production and nutrient management.

The outlook for the California dairy industry is driven by higher input costs. One of the most pressing issues facing the industries is water scarcity and water quality management. Dairy Cares and the California Cattle Council commissioned this study to quantify likely changes in response to one of the most important changes in water management, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Tackling the food waste problem: The Spare Food Co. finds a ‘whey’

Read the full story at Food Navigator USA.

With a new flavor of its probiotic tonic set to hit store shelves regionally later this month, The Spare Food Co. is repurposing whey from the Greek style-yogurt manufacturing process to create its line of beverages while advocating for more food and beverage brands to take action on food waste to create a more sustainable food system.

Sonomaceuticals upcycles Chardonnay pomace into health benefits

Read the full story at Food Navigator USA.

Two wine industry veterans are channeling research and leftover grape pomace into a superfood ingredient chocked full of bioactive compounds for gut and heart health.

The company making use of the most wasted fruit in the world…

Read the full story at Food Manufacture.

Sylvie Woltering-Valat, head of marketing at global cacaofruit expert Cabosse Naturals, explains the impact upcycling cacaofruit can make towards the journey of more sustainable supply chains.

Fossil Daddy is every creationist’s worst, sexiest nightmare

Read the full story from Huffington Post.

About 185 million years ago, a plesiosaur met its fate along what is now the Jurassic Coast of England. Over time, the Earth swallowed the creature’s remains and kept them hidden for millennia — until Fossil Daddy, a “queer paleontological father figure on the internet,” found one of its “freaking awesome” bones in 2019.

When I admit I’m not familiar with the extinct species, Daddy — who prefers to use his pseudonym for privacy concerns related to his family — tells me they’re long-necked marine reptiles commonly mistaken for aquatic dinosaurs. The Loch Ness monster is typically depicted as a plesiosaur, he adds.

Educational moments play out like this all the time on Fossil Daddy’s social media posts, but with one major difference: They’re usually accompanied by his sculpted arms and hairy, tattooed chest. (During our video call, he’s covered up with a cozy-looking fleece sweater.) He’s amassed more than 170,000 followers across four platforms, so his teaching style seems to be working. “I get this comment pretty frequently, not verbatim,” Daddy says. “‘The thirst traps brought me in, but the education kept me here.’”

Leading American medical journal continues to omit Black research, reinforcing a legacy of racism in medical knowledge

Medical research is one of the keys in providing health care. SJ Objio for Unsplash, CC BY-SA

by Cherice Escobar Jones, Northeastern University; Gwendolynne Reid, Emory University, and Mya Poe, Northeastern University

The leading U.S. medical journal, read regularly by doctors of all specialties, systematically ignores an equally reputable and rigorous body of medical research that focuses on Black Americans’ health.

The American Medical Association created a segregated “whites only” environment more than 100 years ago to prohibit Black physicians from joining their ranks. This exclusionary and racist policy prompted the creation in 1895 of the National Medical Association, a professional membership group that supported African American physicians and the patients they served. Today, the NMA represents more than 30,000 medical professionals.

In 2008, the AMA publicly apologized and pledged to right the wrongs that were done through decades of racism within its organization. Yet our research shows that despite that public reckoning 15 years ago, the opinion column of the AMA’s leading medical journal does not reflect the research and editorial contributions by NMA members.

Invisibility in the opinion column of one of the most prominent medical journals in the U.S. is another form of subtle racism that continues to lessen the importance of equitable medical care and health issues for Black and underserved communities.

As rhetoricians and researchers who study scientific communication, we look at the ways scientific writing perpetuates or addresses racial inequity. Our recent study traced how research is referenced by medical professionals and colleagues, known as citations, of flagship journals of the NMA and AMA: the Journal of the National American Association and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Invisible research

Our research began with a question: Has the AMA’s 2008 apology had any effect on the frequency with which JAMA opinion writers draw on insights and research of JNMA scholars and authors?

We studied opinion columns, also referred to as editorials, precisely because they are useful indicators of current and future research as well as priorities and agendas. The purpose of editorials is to critically analyze and sift through various opinions and evidence. Effective editorials in scientific journals are especially rich forums for debate within the medical community.

Medical publications like JNMA and JAMA do not simply convey knowledge. They also establish professional community values through the topics that are studied and who is credited for ideas related to research. When writers choose to reference or cite another scholar, they are acknowledging and highlighting that expertise.

X-ray of a chest, several ribs, shoulder bone.
Influential medical journals serve to inform and shape health care. Harlie Raethel for Unsplash

As such, citations play an important role in the visibility of research. Articles and authors with more citations are more likely to have a greater effect on the scientific community and patient care. Opinion pieces can shape the broader conversation among medical professionals, and citations can widen that circle of communication.

Invisible racism

We traced how frequently JAMA and JNMA opinion writers referenced one another from 2008 to 2021 by reviewing the 117 opinion pieces published in JNMA and 1,425 published in JAMA during this 13-year period. We found that JAMA opinion columns have continued to, in effect, uphold racial bias and segregation by ignoring JNMA findings.

A Black medical professional adjusts gloves in front of a mirror.
The work of Black medical proessionals is being overlooked in national medical journals. Piron Guillaume for Unsplash, CC BY-ND

Even when focusing on race, racism and health disparities, topics that JNMA has explored in great detail, JAMA opinion columns did not reference JNMA colleagues or research. Only two JNMA articles were credited and referenced in the 1,425 JAMA opinion pieces that we reviewed.

Editors at JAMA did not respond to our requests for their comments on our analysis.

Racial equity in medicine

The story of the AMA and NMA is not only a reminder of the racist history of medicine. It demonstrates how the expertise of Black professionals and researchers continues to be ignored today. The lack of JNMA citations in JAMA research undercuts the AMA’s own work on racial equity and potentially compromises the quality of medical knowledge published in its journals.

For example, a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that scientists from underrepresented groups innovate, or contribute novel scientific findings, at a higher rate than those from majority groups.

An article published in the weekly medical journal of the Public Library of Science noted that diverse research teams are often more successful in developing new knowledge to help treat women and underrepresented patients with greater precision.

Dissolving systemic bias

One way to intentionally tackle racial bias and segregation in medical knowledge is by deliberately referencing Black researchers and their work. To change this dynamic of racial bias, medical journals must pay attention to how much and how often the Black medical establishment is referenced. Health issues in underserved communities would likely become more visible and achieve greater quality of care in keeping with the AMA’s commitment to social justice.

Journal editors could tell writers and editorial staff to prioritize citation practices. Individual authors might conduct research and evaluate their reading habits to intentionally include research from the Black medical community.

However, this work must go beyond individuals. Undoing decades of collective habits and embedded racism requires collaborations that work across systems, institutions and disciplines.

One hand holds a bottle of pills and the other hand holds three white pills.
Racial disparities in health care often result in lower-quality medical treatment and worse health care outcomes for Black Americans. Towfiqu Barbhuiya for Unsplash, CC BY-ND

For example, libraries, databases, and search engines that help researchers find and evaluate medical publications might review today’s research tools. It is hard to contribute to a research conversation if your work is invisible or can’t be found.

Many tools, like impact factors, rank research according to how influential it is. If research begins in a category of less importance, it can be harder for the technology to rank it equitably. JNMA’s work was already marginalized when the tools that rank research were developed.

Thus, search results can hinder efforts of individual authors to work toward equitable citation practices. Black researchers and their research of Black health were excluded from the beginning, and existing systems of sharing knowledge and drawing attention to important studies incorporate that structural racism.

The AMA apology in 2008 and its recent progress on addressing racism in its publication process are promising steps. Influential medical journals serve to inform and shape health care. Who is referenced in these journals matters to the medical establishment, research funders and, ultimately, to the patients that are served by innovations in medicine.

Attention to citation can help reduce systemic bias in medical knowledge to achieve greater fairness in health care and, in the long run, help increase attention and resources that will help solve health issues in underserved communities.

Cherice Escobar Jones, PhD Candidate, Northeastern University; Gwendolynne Reid, Assistant Professor of English, Emory University, and Mya Poe, Associate Professor of English, Northeastern University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

This startup turns electric water heaters into grid batteries

Read the full story at Canary Media.

Shifted Energy is tapping water heaters in lower-income communities to create virtual power plants that help balance the grid, starting in Hawaii.

PureCycle, iSustain close deal for up to 10M pounds of feedstock

Read the full story at Recycling Today.

PureCycle Technologies, Orlando, Florida, and iSustain Recycling, a Soddy Daisy, Tennessee-based recycling solutions provider, have announced an agreement to source and divert up to 10 million pounds of polypropylene (PP) plastic scrap from landfills and waterways.  

BMW has metal recycling on its sustainability agenda

Read the full story at Recycling Today.

BMW is pointing to recycling activities at its aluminum foundry in Landshut, Germany, as a reason it is setting and meeting sustainability targets within the automotive industry.