Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Pharmaceutical Industry

The U.S. pharmaceutical industry consumes almost $1 billion in energy annually. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There are a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, system, and organizational levels. A discussion of the trends, structure, and energy consumption characteristics of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is provided along with a description of the major process steps in the pharmaceutical manufacturing process. Expected savings in energy and energy-related costs are given for many energy efficiency measures, based on case study data from real-world applications in pharmaceutical and related facilities worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner while meeting regulatory requirements and maintaining the quality of products manufactured. At individual plants, further research on the economics of the measures as well as their applicability to different production practices is needed to assess potential implementation of selected technologies.