I. Title of the Best Practice

II. Overview of the Best Practice

A. General Description
The Motor Challenge program was created in 1993 as an industry/government partnership designed to help industry tap into the more than 100 billion kilowatt-hours per year of potential electricity savings. The potential electricity savings translate to over US$5 billion in energy cost savings and over 20 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE) of emissions reduction per year. The goal of the Motor Challenge program is to achieve approximately 15% of this reduction potential by the year 2010. According to analysis by the Department of Energy (DOE), 11 to 18 percent of the energy currently used by plant motor systems can be eliminated through the use of mature, proven, cost-effective technologies.

The Motor Challenge program is unique among initiatives addressing electric motors because it encourages a systems perspective that views individual energy-consuming components as part of a total system, focusing on the motor and its driven systems, as well as the entire plant. In this way participating plants are encouraged to identify motor-efficiency upgrades and system-level savings that will significantly maximize their dollar and reduction in energy use.

The Motor Challenge program has gained support throughout private industry, so much so that the move to improving motors systems has spread to creating plant-wide improvements. That in turn has led to a new, more encompassing program scope which combines short-term and long-term goals, and government/industry partnerships that emphasize the development and promotion of the latest energy efficiency best practices in motor, steam, and compressed air systems, as well as the adoption of emerging technologies such as combined heat and power systems.

B. Special Characteristics of the Best Practice
Promotes "systems-based solutions". A company can improve a specific system (e.g., steam) in a plant, or implement improvements plant-wide using a systems approach with respect to design, specification, installation, maintenance, and management of energy systems and processes. Energy-saving opportunities that might have been overlooked with a single-system approach are captured when the full spectrum of systems are considered. With a systems approach, plants can achieve near-term energy savings of up to 30 percent.

Provides best practices technical assistance, tools, training, and other resources to identify opportunities in plants to make operations as efficient as possible with today's best technologies and practices. The program has a national information clearinghouse. It also offers its partners a broad array of information support tools, such as the MotorMaster+3 and ASDMaster decision support software tools, the Pump Systems Assessment Tool, regional conferences and technical/management training events, audit services or assistance, and help in developing measurement standards.

Encourages participating companies to demonstrate benefit of efficient systems. Some 20 companies have agreed to provide detailed case studies of how they have undertaken improvements in their electric motor systems and verified the energy savings and associated waste reduction and productivity improvements. These case studies are widely disseminated and provide direct examples of the range and scope of benefits that can be captured from efficiency updates and application of motor system optimization concepts. Other companies are encouraged to follow suit, thus creating a stronger market for efficient systems.

Has attracted more than 200 Allied Partners. Non end-users, such as original equipment manufacturers, distributors, utilities, State energy agencies, and engineering firms actively support the program. Allied Partners have disseminated program information and offered related motor system initiatives to well over 10,000 customers.

Continuously redefines its best practices as new information and technology become available.

C. Reasons for Inclusion as a Best Practice
With the systems approach, a plant can realize near-term cost-effective energy savings between 10 to 30 percent in three to five years. For example, AlliedSignal's aerospace division in Torrance, California, is saving US$150,000 per year just by repairing leaks and tuning up its large compressed air system. A second example, the Louisiana Pacific plant in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, proves that a typical company can implement relatively low-cost, simple changes to realize significant energy and dollar savings. By carefully analyzing its oriented strand board processing system, evaluating energy-saving opportunities, and adjusting the system for optimal performance, Louisiana Pacific achieved electrical cost savings of US$85,000 and energy savings of nearly 2.4 million kWh per year-translating into a 40-percent improvement from its baseline annual energy use of 5.7 million kWh.

The Motor Challenge program can now be evaluated quantitatively, and energy savings and pollution prevention are currently being documented. Its Industrial Electric Motor Systems Market Opportunities Assessment provides a detailed and highly differentiated portrait for baseline motor inventory, energy use, and operating practices in the industrial end-user markets. The program now has a statistical basis for characterizing national motor systems baseline conditions and for providing the information needed to model the change in the motor systems inventory and purchase and maintenance practices over time. Also, the MotorMaster+3 decision support software, available to program participants, contains a Savings Tracker designed to help companies document energy savings and illustrate the energy, dollar and environmental benefits of in-plant motor systems.

This program, and the methodology involved can be appropriate for application in, or technical transfers to, developing countries. In fact, program information has already been shared with 23 other nations -- for example, Ghana, China, Australia, South Africa, and Brazil.

III. Categorizing the Best Practice

1. Classification(s) (Indicate main classification(s) only.)
( ) Regulatory Approach (Policy approaches-- regulations, incentives, etc.)
( ) Practical Action (Action undertaken independently by a social actor)
( X ) Social Network Mechanism (Cooperative structure)

2. Social Actor(s) Involved (Indicate main social actor(s) only.)
( ) Citizens
( X ) Central government
( ) Local government
( X ) Business
( X ) Industry associates (added)

3. Sector(s) (Indicate main sector(s) only.)
( ) Energy
( ) Household
( ) Transportation
( X ) Industrial Enterprises
( ) Other (Non-Industrial) Business
( X ) Agriculture/ Land Use/ Forestry
( ) Other (Please specify.)

4. Target Greenhouse Gas(es)
( ) CO2
( ) CH4
( ) N2O
( ) HFC
( ) PFC
( ) SF6
( X ) Other No specific greenhouse gas is targeted. The program focuses on energy, waste and productivity improvements. Savings in greenhouse gases are, however, a significant by-product of the Motor Challenge Program.

IV. List of References

http://www.motor.doe.gov

V. Please indicate a person to contact for more information about this Best Practice.

Contact Person:	Paul Scheihing
Title:	Program Manager
Organization:	U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Industrial Technologies
Email:	Paul.Scheihing@ee.doe.gov
Tel:	202-586-7234
Fax:	202-586-7114
Address:	1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585 USA