• dairy industry
• energy efficiency
• food systems
• glass manufacturing
• indystry
• vertical farming

Large environmental impacts, fluctuating energy prices, and rising customer awareness make the rational use of energy crucial for industrial sustainability. The heterogeneity of industrial contexts poses a major barrier to the extensive realisation of energy improvements in production processes. This thesis proposes a comprehensive framework for energy efficiency in the industrial sector, grounded in empirical evidence from specific production contexts along the food supply chain.
The methodology combines data analysis and energy modelling for measuring, assessing, and improving energy performance. Measurement is the basis of proper energy management and involves linking energy and production information. Assessment provides insights into the extent and location of energy efficiency potential through evaluations at varying levels of detail. A black box approach, exemplified by benchmarking, is effective for quantifying the potential for improvement at both sector and plant levels, while a white box approach based on energy flow mapping allows uncovering where these opportunities lie. Improvement revolves around the identification of appropriate interventions and their optimisation based on criteria such as energy degradation, economic cost, environmental impact, and resource availability.
In consideration of the relevance of the food supply chain in modern society, representative contexts have been selected to exemplify food sourcing, processing, and packaging, as well as to reflect industrial heterogeneity in energy intensity and thermal demand. The methodology is applied to vertical farming, the dairy industry, and glass manufacturing and is tailored to the unique characteristics of each sector. This helps to address specific research gaps, including establishing energy benchmarks in vertical farming, accounting for operational variability in plant performance in the dairy industry, and quantifying the sectoral improvement potential in glass manufacturing.
This thesis demonstrates the applicability of a general framework for energy efficiency across diverse industrial contexts, addressing the prevalent issue of fragmentation in the scope of industrial energy management literature. While applicable to various industries, the application to the food supply chain represents an early comprehensive bottom-up approach in the field, set to drive the energy transition toward sustainable food systems.