ArcelorMittal Steel USA is finding an uncommon way to beat the competition: It is cutting energy consumption at one of its steel plants in Chicago by re-using heat to make electricity. It says that it is saving $100 million a year by creating an extra 75 megawatts of emissions-free electricity.

It’s not just steel manufacturers that are able to use such combined heat and power technologies. It’s also oil and gas processing businesses, as well as iron, chemical and cement makers. Scientists are saying that the recycling of wasted energy is a productive tool that both improves energy efficiency and minimizes the release of greenhouse emissions.

"Increasing America’s industrial energy efficiency can produce more power from natural gas, coal, landfill gas, and biomass with less waste. There are benefits for the consumer, businesses, and the environment. It also means reducing the pressure on our commercial electricity grid making it more reliable. Getting more energy from the same amount of fuel also helps communities avoid the need to build new power plants at an additional cost to ratepayers," writes Tracy Schario, with the Pew Charitable Trust...

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