AMERICA’S ENERGY SAVERS
The Oxford English Dictionary records the first
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS A CORE VALUE.
It’s also a daily practice of America’s oil and natural
gas industry.
Energy efficiency helps companies manage costs,
strengthening their competitiveness and bringing more
affordable energy products to consumers. It helps improve
the environmental performance of the industry, including
reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with
climate change. And it increases the energy resources
Americans depend on for a high quality of life.
use of the word “efficiency” in literature in 1593.
It may seem paradoxical that energy efficiency has
become a hallmark of America’s biggest energy providers.
But refinery managers are as committed to saving energy
as snow-belt homeowners. And oil and natural gas
producers monitor their energy consumption as carefully
as Americans at the pump.
America is vastly more energy-efficient today than a
generation ago. The U.S. oil and natural gas industry
is striving to do its part to build on that progress.
The U.S. is becoming more energy efficient, when measured
by how much energy is consumed for every dollar of domestic
economic production.
CO-GENERATE TO CONSERVE
Refineries generate energy from the heat given off by
their operations. The process is called co-generation (also
known as combined heat and power.) The heat creates
steam that powers turbines that generate electricity. That
electricity is then used to help power the refinery itself.
Think of a hybrid electric car that captures energy from
its braking to help recharge its batteries.

Sometimes enough electricity is generated at refineries to

help supply other electricity users — much as homeowners
with solar panels sometimes produce excess electricity,
which they sell back to the electric grid.

The incentives for investing in co-generation are huge, and

benefits are substantial. Energy accounts for 44 percent of
refiner operating costs. The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency estimates that co-generation can provide a 50-
percent improvement in overall energy efficiency resulting
in a 35-percent fuel savings.

BETWEEN 1980 AND 2005,

OIL AND NATURAL GAS
INDUSTRY CO-GENERATION
CAPACITY GREW OVER
NINE-FOLD.
Between 1980 and 2005, oil and natural gas industry
co-generation capacity grew over nine-fold, and in 2005
the industry produced more electricity than 17 medium-
sized coal-fired power plants (each with 600 megawatt
capacity).
530,000 CARS
950,000 HOMES
In 2002, API (American Petroleum Institute) member refiners
pledged to steadily improve their energy efficiency over the
next decade as part of a program to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. In 2006 alone, the energy savings produced were
equivalent to the gasoline consumed by more than 530,000
cars or the electricity used by 950,000 homes.

A PLEDGE FOR GREATER EFFICIENCY

One of the most energy-efficient buildings
is one built underground where insulation
provided by the earth minimizes heat loss.
TECHNOLOGY IS AS MUCH A FIRST PRINCIPLE OF THE U.S.
OIL AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY AS ENERGY EFFICIENCY.

T E C H N O L O G Y
Indeed, technology often drives energy efficiency
improvements.
“Smart pigs” with ultrasonic sensors travel inside buried
pipelines, detecting corrosion, cracks, and dents. This
=
helps reduce energy-intensive excavation that might
Oil and gas exploration companies employ computers to otherwise be necessary.
turn seismic vibrations into 3-D and 4-D images that help
pinpoint the location of oil and natural gas, reducing the
number of wells drilled and energy used to drill them. In
fact, in the last 17 years, the exploration drilling success
rate has nearly tripled, growing from 26 percent in 1990
to 71 percent in 2007.

Remotely operated vehicles — submersibles — help deepwater

operators install, inspect and repair underwater facilities
with less energy use. Other remote control technology
allows offshore production platforms to operate unmanned
saving energy and dollars.

The wheel is mankind’s oldest and most important

energy saving technology.
= E F F I C I E N C Y
A new solvent extraction system that operates without
using tremendous heat or pressure makes it possible to A Google search of the
re-refine used lubricating oil with one-third less energy. phrase “energy efficiency”
produces more than 17
million hits.
Pipeline companies use higher grades of steel for pipelines,
enabling the transport of natural gas at higher pressures
with less energy.

Refineries, pipelines and terminals use more sensitive

monitoring devices to detect and eliminate fuel and emission
leaks and to keep temperatures, pressures and operating
conditions optimal. Less energy is consumed and less is
lost.
NATURAL GAS WILL BE
AN IMPORTANT PART OF
OUR ENERGY LANDSCAPE
FOR MANY DECADES.
Clean-burning with low greenhouse gas emissions, natural
gas heats homes, powers vehicles and fires electricity
generation. It is also used as a feedstock in many plastic,
chemical and fertilizer manufacturing processes.

In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (the Natural Gas STAR Program), API member oil
and natural gas companies have been installing new
equipment and changing management practices to
eliminate the leaking, venting and flaring of natural gas,
preventing wasted energy.

The program has fostered more efficient management of

our natural gas resources. According to the EPA, “Natural
Gas STAR partners have eliminated more than 577 billion
cubic feet of methane emissions through the implementation
For the average person, at a speed above 4.5 miles per hour,
of more than 120 cost-effective technologies and practices.” running becomes more energy-efficient than walking.

SAVING NATURAL GAS

RE-REFINING OF USED ENGINE
OIL TAKES FROM 50 PERCENT
TO 85 PERCENT LESS ENERGY
THAN REFINING ENGINE OIL
FROM CRUDE OIL.

ENERGY IS VALUABLE:RECYCLE IT

Used engine oil is like used paper, glass and metal. It can
be recycled, either burned as fuel or re-refined for reuse in
engine oil, in both cases extending our energy supplies.
Re-refining of used engine oil takes from 50 percent to 85
percent less energy than refining engine oil from crude oil.
The U.S. oil and natural gas industry promotes recycling of
used oil through a variety of means including the website
www.recycleoil.org, and many service stations, repair
facilities and quick lubes accept it.

Two gallons of recycled used engine oil can generate

enough electricity to run the average household for almost
24 hours.
The ruby-throated hummingbird
is the Hummer of the avian
family, consuming twice its
weight in food each day.
To locate a nearby used
oil collection center,
visit www.Earth911.org.
ALL OF US NEED TO WORK
TOGETHER TO USE ENERGY
MORE EFFICIENTLY.
That’s why the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is helping
Americans learn more about energy and energy-efficiency —
and even going into communities to help them put energy
efficiency tips into practice.

Working in partnership with Rebuilding Together through

its Energy Efficient Homes Initiative, the industry is
providing money and hands-on assistance to thousands
of low-income homeowners, helping make homes more
energy-efficient by installing better windows, ENERGY STAR
appliances and other energy-saving upgrades. In 2008,
some 10,000 residences are being given an energy
efficiency overhaul with major sweat equity and financial
assistance from oil and natural gas companies and
hundreds of industry employees.

The industry is also leveraging the Internet to help

Americans become more energy-efficient. Please visit
www.energytomorrow.org, which includes educational
games and information on using energy more wisely at
home and on the road. While there, don’t forget to test
your “Energy IQ.”

Also, please visit www.sixdegreechallenge.org, a partnership

of the Alliance to Save Energy, API and others, that was
created to help educate consumers about energy efficiency
in the home. And click on www.drivesmarterchallenge.org,
a creation of The Drive $marter Challenge, to calculate how
to get more miles to the gallon.

The heart is the most efficient machine

in the world, circulating about one million
barrels of blood in a lifetime.
ENERGY EFFICIENT NEIGHBORS
1220 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005-4070
USA

Phone 202-682-8000

www.api.org

Copyright 2008 - API, All rights reserved. API and the API logo are
either trademarks or registered trademarks of API in the United
States and/or other countries. Printed in the United States of
America.

API Creative: 2008-123 | 11.08 | PDF