New research show potential in electrification of the food industry

af Food Nation

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The Danish food industry faces an exciting and challenging future in regard to reducing its carbon footprint. New forms of production make it possible to reduce CO2 consumption significantly, where electrification is one way to contribute to the green transition.

Electrification refers to the process of replacing technologies that use fossil fuels with technologies that use electricity as a source of energy. Using electrification, energy savings can be achieved while the competitiveness is strengthened within the food industry.

Electrification is one of the choices of the future
A report from DTU Mechanical Engineering shows that a majority all processes in the food industry can be electrified. The current use of energy in manufacturing processes in the food industry comprises 23 petajoule (PJ) annually. An electrification of these processes means, only 0.5 PJ will still require the use of fossil fuels, which can be supplied with green . By replacing fossil fuels with green electricity, Denmark can reduce its annual CO2 emissions with 2%. Processes within cooking, baking, brewing, slaughtering, evaporating, pasteurising and drying are areas where electrification can be used and be profitable.

A market in need for more innovation
Innovative technology is a gateway to electrifying central processes within the food industry. Many technologies can already be utilised for electrifying processes within the food sector while others need further development. That is why innovation is key, so technologies can adapt to new circumstances and thus handle specific temperatures used in electrifying processes.

The project on electrifying processes in the food industry is a partnership between Confederation of Danish Industry, Agriculture & Food, Dansk Energi, Technical University of Denmark and Viegand Maagøe with financial support from the Danish Industry Foundation.