The White House announced today that President Obama has signed an executive order to “accelerate investments in industrial energy efficiency, including combined heat and power (CHP),” a press release from the U.S. Department of Energy said. According to the release, the executive order:

•Sets a national goal of 40 gigawatts (GW) of new CHP installation over the next decade;

•Directs agencies to foster a national dialogue through ongoing regional workshops to encourage the adoption of best practice policies and investment models that overcome the numerous barriers to investment, provide public information on the benefits of unlocking investment in industrial energy efficiency, and use existing Federal authorities that can support these investments; and

•Directs the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency, to coordinate actions at the Federal level while providing policy and technical assistance to states to promote investments in industrial energy efficiency.

In support of this executive order, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency released a report titled “Combined Heat and Power: A Clean Energy Solution,” which the press release says “provides a foundation for national discussions on effective ways to achieve 40 GW of new, cost-effective CHP by 2020.” For more, read the president’s executive order here, the press release from the Department of Energy here and the joint DOE and EPA report here.