Event held October 25-26, 2022

For DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, Argonne hosted a Better Plants Technology Day. The Better Plants initiative is a ​“voluntary partnership that aims to drive significant energy efficiency improvements across energy-intensive industrial companies and organizations.” According to the 2022 Better Plants Progress Update, over 270 organizations partner with DOE through Better Plants, representing around 3600 individual facilities and 14% of the US manufacturing footprint.

Technology Days are meant to encourage Better Plants partners, especially those at local sites, to engage with the skills and resources available at national labs. This year we hosted large companies such as Occidental Chemical Corporation, Detroit Diesel, and BorgWarner as well as smaller companies like Ozinga, Pactiv Evergreen, Phoenix Closures, and Zebra Technologies to explore and expand collaborations.

“Technology Days is a great way that DOE, through the Better Plants program, helps industrial partners connect with the incredible innovation taking place at the national labs,” said John O’Neill, program manager for Better Plants. ​“It is inspiring to see the conversations and collaboration that come out of events like this, and we’re grateful to Argonne for their support. Events like this help open the door and teach our partners about the myriad ways to partner with a national lab to help them achieve their decarbonization and energy efficiency goals.”

The day’s activities included: a focus on climate science, risk, and resilience for U.S. manufacturers, with researchers Kyle Pfeiffer and Tom Wall, poster sessions highlighting Argonne work in industrial decarbonization and resource sustainability and supply chains, and tours of many of the laboratory’s facilities.