Manufacturing Plants Recognized for Energy Efficiency
Washington, DC - Sept. 13, 2006 -- Seventeen U.S. manufacturing plants were first-time winners of EPA's Energy Star award in recognition of their energy-efficient operations that prevented some 3 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

The manufacturers' efforts not only cut pollution but also lowered energy consumption and reduced costs.

"By committing to smart energy use, America's historic economic backbone is now supporting our nation's brightening environmental future," said U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "Working with our manufacturing partners, we are implementing President Bush's aggressive and practical strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while growing the American economy."

The plants represent six percent of cement production capacity; seven percent of wet corn milling capacity; and 23 percent of auto assembly capacity.

The U.S. manufacturing sector consumes about one-third of the energy used in the United States and contributes about 28 percent of U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions. Energy is a significant, controllable expense for most manufacturers, and energy efficiency is a direct way to reduce this cost while avoiding emissions of greenhouse gases. EPA's national energy performance rating system, developed in cooperation with industry, enables companies in the wet corn milling, cement and auto assembly industries to evaluate the energy efficiency of their plants relative to their industries and develop challenging energy improvement goals and plans.

Plant owners are eligible to earn the Energy Star award for a plant if the plant's energy performance score is in the top 25 percent nationally using EPA's plant energy performance indicators. The scores are based on actual energy use. EPA is currently working with 10 industries to advance innovative corporate energy management tools.

The first plants being recognized with the Energy Star award, listed by industry, include:

Auto Assembly

• The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Chicago, Ill.
• The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in St. Paul, Minn.
• The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Claycomo, Mo.
• The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Norfolk, Va.
• The Nissan North America, Inc. assembly plant in Canton, Miss.
• The Nissan North America, Inc. assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn.
• The Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. assembly plant (NUMMI passenger) in Fremont, Calif.
• The Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. assembly plant in Princeton, Ind.
• The Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky.

Cement

• The Ash Grove Cement Company plant in Chanute, Kan.
• The Ash Grove Cement Company plant in Seattle, Wash.
• The California Portland Cement Company plant in Colton, Calif.
• The California Portland Cement Company plant in Mojave, Calif.
• The Lafarge North America plant in Calera, Ala.
• The Lafarge North America plant in Sugar Creek, Mo.

Wet Corn Milling

• The Penford Products Company plant in Cedar Rapids, IA The Tate and Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc. Sagamore plant in Lafayette, Ind.

Energy Star is a voluntary, market-based partnership designed to offer business and consumers effective energy efficiency solutions for saving energy, money and the environment. Programs like Energy Star are vital to meeting the Bush Administration's goal to cut the greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent by 2012. In 2005, Americans with the help of Energy Star saved about $12 billion on their energy bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those produced in powering 11 million single family homes.

Contact Information: Enesta Jones, (202) 564-4355 / jones.enesta@epa.gov

More information about this plant recognition and the energy efficiency rating system:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=in_focus.bus_industries_focus

"The Bush Administration has an unparalleled financial, international and domestic commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Voluntary programs, like EPA's Methane to Markets Partnership, are achieving significant reductions by taking methane waste and turning it into wealth," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By working with Germany to promote advances in clean technology, President Bush is helping turn strong economic partners into good global neighbors."

Joint commitments under Methane to Markets help meet the shared goals of reducing global methane emissions while enhancing economic growth, promoting energy security and improving the environment. By 2015, Methane to Markets has the potential to deliver annual reductions in methane emissions equal to planting 55 million acres of trees or eliminating emissions from 33 million cars in America. The United States has committed $53 million to this initiative over the next five years. Methane is a clean-burning fuel that is the main component of natural gas..

The Methane to Markets Partnership, launched by President Bush in November 2004, is a public-private partnership to advance methane recovery and use projects in four sectors: agriculture, coal mines, landfills and oil and gas systems. Member countries work in collaboration with the private sector, multilateral development banks, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations through the partnership's project network.

More than 300 organizations from around the world have made commitments to this partnership. In addition to Germany, countries participating in Methane to Markets include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Contact Information: Roxanne Smith, (202) 564-4355 / smith.roxanne@epa.gov (media only); Erin Birgfeld, (202) 343-9079/ birgfeld.erin@epa.gov (technical questions only)

General information about Methane to Markets Partnership

Development Marketplace 2006 Partnership Winners
Four Department of State-funded, renewable energy projects were among the 59 winners selected on May 29 at the World Bank's Panibagong Paraan 2006 Competition in Manila. Winning projects each receive approximately $20,000 in grant funding from Development Marketplace partners. The State Department contributed $100,000 to this competition. The finalists' proposals were judged on the three criteria -- innovation, scalability and replicability , and potential impact . The four U.S. Government-funded winning projects described below, generate renewable energy using wind, solar, biomass and micro-hydro power.

The "Small Wind Energy Innovation and Development" project will locally produce and install 12-foot wind turbines in three test sites. Once installed the wind turbines will provide: potable water for 30 households, water for irrigation, increased economic benefits to more than 300 seaweed farmers and fishermen, and the electrification of a school/community center serving 108 households. In addition, the provision of electricity after hours for the community center will enable adults to participate in continuing education programs such as farm technology, handicraft manufacturing for women and good governance.

The "Solar 'Balut'-Maker: Incubating Socioeconomic Benefits" project will provide access to clean energy, while also improving access to marketing systems for small rice-duck farming communities. The objective is to use renewable energy to strengthen the rice-duck production system in which rice and ducks are grown together in their natural habitat. The initiative involves the use of solar cells and solar water heaters to enable small scale, rice-duck farm families (6,159 households) in several cities in the province of Laguna to be competitive in the production of "balut," a native Filipino food made from duck eggs.

The "Establishing Clean Energy Access for Fisher Folk: A Community-Based Biogas Project" will provide access to clean energy for fishermen and their families in Bohol Province, while simultaneously reducing local greenhouse gas emissions, through a community-based biogas facility. The provision of this alternative source of cooking fuel will also benefit the province's mangrove and other forest resources by reducing the harvesting of wood for cooking fires. This project will provide a home cooking mechanism that is simple, cheap, and clean-burning by using agricultural waste fuel such as rice hulls, coconut shells and corn cobs. By providing an alternative source of cooking fuel, the project eliminates the need for firewood and reduces deforestation and the burden of firewood-gathering for village women. In the first year, the project will produce 500 units and will offer 50% discounts for the neediest beneficiaries.

The "River, Fiber and Power: Bringing Light and Life to Poor Coconut Farmers" project will benefit approximately 1,000 households through the provision of off-grid clean energy using micro-hydro generators in rivers near remote communities. The project includes the construction of a mill and the distribution of power via rechargeable batteries. The project's generated income will be recycled to scale up and replicate this project in other areas.

For more information on these and the other Development Marketplace projects, please visit, www.panibagongparaan.com

CSD-14 Highlights: Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The high-level segment began in the morning with a statement by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan followed by a panel-led discussion between ministers, business leaders and representatives of international financial institutions. In the afternoon, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, delivered a statement by video link at the beginning of a high-level discussion on barriers and constraints in the context of addressing the thematic cluster.

HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT I
Making a Difference: Ministerial dialogue with business leaders: Chair Aleksi Aleksishvili (Georgia) opened the high-level segment and invited the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to address the meeting. The Secretary-General described the multiple risks associated with the world's deeply entrenched reliance on fossil fuels and the despair of those who lack access to modern energy services. He said the lack of energy acts as a barrier to the achievement of the MDGs and industrial development. The Secretary-General challenged developed countries to help developing countries double their electricity generation capacity using cleaner technologies, and, on climate change, called for more participation in the flexible mechanisms. He said inter-generational equity exerts only a weak hold on people's imagination and wallets.

Chair Aleksishvili invited a panel of speakers, including ministers and representatives of business and international financial institutions, to commence discussion on "Making a Difference". Lindiwe Hendricks, Minister of Minerals and Energy, South Africa, called on multilateral agencies to find innovative ways to assess renewable energy proposals, fund credit guarantees to back technology transfer, and invest in developing country capacity to integrate best practices.

Abdullah gin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar, described the role of his country's oil and gas partnership activities, including their contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation through natural gas conversion. Announcing her decision to target women as part of a pledge to provide 10 million people with modern energy services before 2015, Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, Minister for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands, stressed output targets for donor countries and a proposal that oil-producing countries allow their ODA percentage to rise with oil prices, and spend the extra money on access to energy for the poor. On modern energy services for the poor, she mentioned investment by companies and suggested a more balanced approach to the Investment Framework for Clean Energy, which addresses this objective. She called on the Russian Presidency of the G8 to place access to energy for the poor on top of its St Petersburg agenda, and invited the World Bank to discuss this issue at its annual meeting. Noting energy headlines around the world, Paula J. Dobriansky, Under-Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, United States, said the US is working harder than ever to develop transformational energy technologies to reduce reliance on oil. She cited decreases (per kilowatt-hour) in the cost of renewable energy such as wind and solar, noted the importance of effective policy and regulatory frameworks to encourage private investment, and described energy initiatives such as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.

Du Ying, Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, China, said the gaps in wealth between countries and regions are growing, especially between North and South. He called for an enabling model of economic development, and noted China's continuing efforts to create a conducive investment climate. Hassan Ahmad Younis, Minister of Electricity and Energy, Egypt, described regulatory reform in his country's electricity sector. Valli Moosa, Eskom, noted that the private sector can contribute to energy access if market incentives are created for large industrial electricity users, with a view to enabling the poor to benefit from infrastructure development. Travis Engen, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, underlined that business is the engine of change and stressed the global relationship between energy and climate change. John Hofmeister, Royal Dutch Shell, said environmental protection and meeting society's energy demands are not incompatible goals. Noting that the US and the EU have a responsibility to show leadership, L.G. Josefsson, Vattenfall, stressed the need for a credible, stable and long-term global framework for making GHG reductions. He said the chief barrier is the need for policy making.

Abdulla Sallat, Qatar Industries, described the public sector's role in enabling the private sector to take a lead in efforts to diversify the petrochemical industry. Massimo Romano, ENEL SpA, described 2012 - the final year in the 2008-2012 commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol - as a barrier to investment, and said the European approach needs to include more than 30 percent of emissions to take account of the distribution of emissions between developed and developing country emitters. Herman Mulder, ABN AMRO, invited participants to "think big, start small", replicate and scale up, ensure transparency and accountability, and build capacity at the local level. Claude Nahon, EDF Group, said partnerships need a long-term stable environment, and that partners should undertake only what they can deliver. Fasihul Karim Siddiqi, Hinopak Motors Ltd., described transformations underway in Pakistan, highlighting partnerships and the improved social outlook of business. Len Good, Global Environment Fund (GEF), recalled the importance of off-grid energy sources for the poor, focusing on tried and tested renewable energy technologies and developing supportive policy frameworks. Kathy Sierra, World Bank, described the Bank's work on an investment framework for clean energy and development.

Discussion: The BAHAMAS compared the effort needed to bring about a paradigm shift in energy services to that of the global response to HIV/AIDS. Responding to the Netherlands, SAUDI ARABIA said its ODA level has risen to 1.3 percent of GDP. A joint statement by NGOs, WORKERS AND TRADE UNIONS, WOMEN, YOUTH and INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, stressed that sustainable development is not sustained economic growth, but aims to meet basic needs, and emphasized inter-generational equity. The DOMINICAN REPUBLIC recalled President Leonel Fernández's proposal that a summit be convened to address the volatility of oil prices. Replying to the Netherlands on the adoption of performance standards, Engen said that a sectoral approach is feasible and cited the examples of the aluminum and cement sectors.

The Chair thanked the participants and announced that he would be returning to Georgia.  [more]

United States Renews Its Commitment to the SEED Initiative
Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky announced May 10 that the United States renewed commitment to the Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Initiative. A voluntary public-private partnership, Seed facilitates innovative solutions to development challenges through local partnerships. "Through the initiative's international awards program, capacity-building activities, and research and learning program, SEED is making a real difference in our collective efforts to achieve development goals at the local level," stated Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky. The Initiative, announced at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, links large and small entrepreneurs from all parts of the world to build local ability to support the outcomes from the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Millennium Development Goals.

The partnership has three objectives:

• To recognize innovative, promising approaches through a biennial award program.
• To showcase the selected partnerships on the Internet at http://www.seedinit.org/.
• To share lessons-learned and best practices with other partnerships.

In addition to the United States, SEED partners include international organizations (IUCN-World Conservation Union, United Nations Environment Program, United Nations Development Program), the private sector (Swiss RE), civil society organizations (Global Public Policy Institute, Centre for the Advancement of Sustainable Development Partnerships), other partnerships (Global Compact), and governments (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom).

For more information about the SEED Initiative, including the inaugural class of award winners, the recently released partnership report or the Call for Proposals for the 2^nd biennial award, please visit www.seedinit.org

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