What are the energy impacts of the using greener copier paper?
Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries in the U.S., according to Department of Energy statistics, and uses 14% of all energy in the industrial sector. In addition, nearly 30% of all wood harvested in the U.S. is used to make paper products. Reducing paper use and switching to less energy-intensive types of paper can have a large energy impact. Since paper is so energy-intensive to manufacture, this translates to significant greenhouse gas emissions. Switching from the current standard 30% post consumer fiber recycled paper to 60% post consumer paper can save 1465 kWh of energy per ton of paper or over 15%. Switching to 100% post consumer fiber paper increases the savings to nearly 3500 kWh, or 35%. If the entire Federal government were to switch from the legally mandated 30% post consumer recycled paper to 100% post consumer recycled paper, even without reducing total use of paper (which would save even more energy), it would save the equiva
