Overview of industries of the future and the forest products industry's Agenda 2020

The Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT), began their Industries of the Future Program (IOF) five years ago. The goal of this program is to target energy and material intensive U.S. industries to aid in improving energy and resource efficiency and reducing wastes through research and development. The industries that OIT is currently working with are Forest Products, Steel, Metal Casting, Aluminum, Glass, Chemicals, and Petroleum Refining. These seven industries use 80 percent of the energy in the manufacturing sector and produce more than 90 percent of manufacturing wastes. In addition to large energy use and wastes produced, these seven industries have the highest energy expenditures and pollution abatement costs and extremely low expenditures on research and development as a percent of sales. The IOF provides a strategic vision that identifies long term market and technology needs, enables an entire industry to address its major challenges and opportunities, and aligns limited government and industry resources with high priority research needs. The forest products industry prepared their vision document, Agenda 2020, in November 1994. Agenda 2020 targets six strategic areas: sustainable forest management, environmental performance, energy performance, improved capital effectiveness, recycling, and sensors and controls. In conjunction with industry, OIT has begun funding pre-competitive, research and development projects in support of Agenda 2020's six strategic areas. To date, OIT has funded 21 new projects in fiscal 1996 and 28 new projects in fiscal 1997. OIT is currently in the selection process for projects that will begin in fiscal 1999.