Supply Chain Management for Improved Energy Efficiency: Review and Opportunities

Abstract

Energy efficiency represents a key resource for economic and social development, providing substantial benefits to different stakeholders, ranging from the entities which develop energy efficient measures to everyone in society. In addition to cost savings, multiple benefits can be achieved by supporting a better alignment between energy issues and strategic business priorities: e.g., improved competitiveness, profitability, quality, etc. Thus, energy efficiency can be a strategic advantage, not just a marginal issue, for companies. However, most firms, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), face many problems and, in some cases, hostility when trying to effectively implement energy efficiency actions. The most dominant barriers are the access to capital and the lack of awareness (especially in terms of life cycle cost effects). The supply chain viewpoint represents one of the main opportunities for overcoming those barriers and improving energy performance even for weaker companies. Since the current literature on energy efficiency and practical approaches to ensure energy efficiency mainly focus on energy performance on a single-firm basis, this paper aims to provide a systematic review of papers on the integration of energy efficiency in supply chain design and management published in academic journal, thereby defining potential research streams to close the gaps in the literature. A number of literature reviews have been published focusing on specific aspects of sustainable or on green supply chain management; however, to the best of our knowledge, no review has focused on the energy efficiency issue. Firstly, the present paper shows how considering energy consumption in supply chain management can contribute to more energy-efficient processes from a systemic point of view. Then, the review methodology used is defined and the sampled papers are analyzed and categorized based on the different approaches they propose. From these analyses, potential future research streams are outlined.

Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap—A Systematic Review of Empirical Articles on Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Firms

“…Moreover, reduced energy costs are crucial for industrial companies in maintaining a competitive advantage [5,6]. Increased energy efficiency can arrive from technological improvements [7], improved supply chain management [8], and the implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) [9], environmental regulation [10], and economic motives [6]. The first electronic database search, after the removal of duplicates, resulted in 835 articles.…”

Energy Efficiency in Logistics: An Interactive Approach to Capacity Utilisation

“…In recent years, energy efficiency has gained attention in the literature on logistics and supply chain management [7,19,51]. Other than identifying the different drivers for the energy-efficient management of the supply chain, including collaboration [22], consolidation and standardisation [8], the weight of goods, and empty running [24], this paper contributes to the understanding of how energy efficiency in logistics, starting with in road freight transport, can be achieved in a broad system, by identifying and countering the causes of unutilised capacity.…”

Vehicles Allocation for Fruit Distribution Considering CO2 Emissions and Decisions on Subcontracting

“…Although harder emission controls on vehicles have reduced harmful gas emissions, attention has shifted towards the growth of CO 2 emissions from the cargo transport sector [8,49]. In recent years, the development and application of operations research models in supply chains of perishable products have attracted many researchers in different countries [1].…”