Energy Efficiency Indicators in the Food Industry: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Energy and its ramifications make up a large part of the discussions in the agendas of various countries. Along with the energy resource, energy efficiency is also being reported in studies on ways to improve its use in industries. In the food industry, in particular, its use is intensive in its manufacturing processes, and thus the indicators that measure the use of this feature have become important. The paper uses the method of a systematic literature review to search for data related to the food industry and what are the energy efficiency indicators adopted in the processes. The objective of the research is to report which are the indicators of energy efficiency adopted in the food industry and the advances achieved with its adoption. The results indicate a broad field of research in this industry sector because the indicators used in measuring process efficiency are still poorly understood and adopted.

Energy consumption and efficiency measures in the Portuguese food processing industry

“…The primary objective of energy indicators in industry is to obtain an understanding of the major techno‐economic influences on the total final energy consumption industry and in individual industrial subsectors or branches. The analysis of energy indicators should also help to relate energy consumption changes to energy efficiency policies or environmental policies, energy price changes, changes in the foreign trade of energy‐intensive intermediate or final products, and structural impacts due to business cycles to tailor instruments to improve energy efficiency more satisfactorily (Abdelaziz, Saidur, & Mekhilef, 2011; Al‐Mansour, 2011; Bastos, Cruz, Silva, & Gaspar, 2013; BCSD,2005; Evans et al, 2013; Huyen Do, Schnitzer, & Le Hai, 2014; Mulobe and Huan, 2012; Pradella, Gouvêa da Costa, Pinheiro de Lima, & Vieira da Silva, 2017; Semkov, Mooney, Connolly, & Adley, 2014; Vera and Langlois, 2007). The energy intensity is strongly related to the type of industries and their level of technological development, translating into an economic index of energy efficiency.…”