Decarbonization of the Food Industry

Production and Distribution of Electricity and Heat

The food sector, from agricultural production to the final production distribution and consumption, absorbs up to 30% of the total primary energy used globally, equal to about 200 EJ. About half of this energy is deployed in the transformation processes, distribution chain and end uses including refrigeration and cooking. Some studies report that the sector contributes to about 60% of biodiversity loss, 60% of land use change, 30% of climate-changing emissions. It is estimated that the agri-food sector accounts for almost a third of the 2019 GHG emissions. The enormous impact on the consumption of resources in the food sector is linked to the increase in production that has been recorded in recent decades where the global production of cereals has tripled in the last 60 years as well as that of meat consumption that has increased almost 5 times reaching a value of almost 340 million tons in 2020. Transformation processes require electricity and process heat typically at medium-low temperatures (below 270°C). Global final energy consumption in the food, beverage and tobacco industries amounted to around 7.8 EJ in 2019, corresponding to around 2% of total final consumption, 6.5% of industrial consumption and 9% of manufacturing consumption. The direct use of renewable sources is very small with a share in Italy of 2% and 3% in Europe, while the contribution at global level is 22% linked to the use of biomass. The decarbonization of the sector finds ample opportunities in the integration of renewable sources for the production of thermal energy, since the characteristic thermal processes take place at temperatures generally below 160 ° C with some transformations that require thermal energy at 270°C. The main technologies identified for the decarbonization of the sector are therefore those related to the production of thermal energy with solar systems (flat collectors or concentrated solar systems) or heat pumps powered by electricity produced from renewable sources. There are also opportunities for the refrigeration of some transformation processes in the sector using absorption systems powered by solar thermal sources. At the industrial level, the currently installed capacity of solar systems is about 450 MW, while the production of solar thermal for the food sector is indicated at about 95 TJ globally. It is interesting to note that in 2018 about 10,000 units of industrial heat pumps were sold in Europe compared to a total of units sold (mainly residential) of about 1.3 million

29-07-2022

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