By helping to reduce the carbon footprint of one of the highest-emitting economic sectors, industrial energy efficiency is one of the key drivers of the energy transition. In France, many manufacturers have already adopted such measures, but ADEME estimates that 20 per cent of current industrial energy consumption could still be reduced through energy efficiency. Numerous stakeholders are well-positioned to address this challenge by offering increasingly innovative solutions. However, one of the major obstacles to the development of such initiatives is the difficulty in securing funding, given a number of risks that are highly specific to projects which combine both the energy and industrial sectors.

Against this backdrop, the members of the Industrial Alliance for Competitiveness and Energy Efficiency (ALLICE) wished to launch a study aimed at summarising the risks and risk-hedging instruments involved in the financing of industrial energy efficiency projects. This report also aims to provide concrete recommendations to aid decision-making, with a view to encouraging the development of energy efficiency projects, particularly those involving innovative technologies that may present significant investment risks. By setting out the risks perceived by manufacturers and their financiers, as well as the means to overcome them, this report aims to accelerate investment in industrial energy efficiency. This study is based on existing literature, as well as on interviews conducted with manufacturers and project financiers.

This study presents a general model of drying phenomena designed to cover a wide range of hot-air convection dryers and products, across a wide variety of configurations.

One of the main aims of this modelling work is to ensure the reliability of the energy optimisation solutions proposed for convective dryers as part of audits: for example, to analyse the impact of air recirculation within the dryer on the drying quality of the manufactured product.

This modelling comprises two parts:

1 – Modelling the behaviour of the product during drying.
2 – Modelling the dryer and the air flow around the product.

The study identified and generalised a large number of existing models to account for a wide range of products: clay, wood, grains, fruit, vegetables, etc.

This study provides an overview of the current state of the art in heat recovery from industrial processes. The information summarised in this report focuses in particular on industrial furnaces and dryers in the food and drink, metallurgy and glass industries.

Following a review of the study’s context and its main objectives, this project begins with a technology review of heat recovery exchangers used in thermal processes. Next, a review of the issue of fouling in heat exchangers helps to identify future developments and the solutions being considered within the industry. Finally, five heat recovery case studies are analysed. For each case, the applicable heat exchanger technology, the nature of the effluent concerned, and existing preventive measures to limit the consequences of fouling are presented.

With a view to achieving competitive, low-carbon industrial development, particular attention has recently been paid to improving industrial air-conditioning and refrigeration systems. Compression-expansion cycles have achieved reasonable performance levels, but are hampered by regulatory changes concerning the working fluids used (GWP – Global Warming Potential, ODP – Ozone Depletion Potential). Consequently, the need to make refrigeration sustainable, competitive and energy-efficient has become a major challenge for the industry. The development of advanced cycles, for example, is highlighted by various industry publications, which regularly report on the performance of compression cycles using ammonia and CO₂ (post-HFC), as well as other machines that appear to be increasingly efficient.

This study presents the state of the art in new refrigeration systems designed to offer improvements over conventional compression-expansion systems.

Heat sources in industry represent a significant potential of 109.5 TWh – equivalent to 36 per cent of industrial fuel consumption in France – which is released as waste heat, of which 52.9 TWh is at temperatures above 100°C.

Half of this market relates to the agri-food and chemicals sectors.

Furthermore, vapours from dryers and fumes from kilns account for 30 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, of the available emissions.

The study focuses on these two industrial sectors to assess the techniques and constraints involved in heat recovery from industrial vapours, and to identify project opportunities for the coming years.

Digital technology offers numerous opportunities to improve industrial competitiveness, particularly in terms of energy efficiency. Against this backdrop, an ALLICE study investigated the potential of Energy Management System (EMS) software. This software is based on the increasing use of data available within the industry: Big Data.
The aim of this report is to complement that previous study by shedding light on data analysis methodologies (or Big Data Analytics) and the prospects for potential applications of industrial data in relation to energy efficiency.

Digital technology offers numerous opportunities to improve industrial competitiveness, particularly in terms of energy efficiency. The implementation of an Energy Management System (EMS) appears to be one of the most promising avenues, driven by the emergence of a large number of players in France and the widespread adoption of data management skills. 

As the Energy Management System (EMS) has become an essential tool for managing energy in industry, this study aims to define what an EMS is, to map out the various solutions available on the market, and to understand the energy-related services that the different types of solutions can provide to manufacturers.

The challenge of electrical energy storage must be met to overcome certain energy transition constraints, in particular those linked to intermittent energies. This technology can become essential for manufacturers to optimize their consumption according to network supply (and therefore prices), to load shed at the request of TSOs or, more directly, to integrate and manage renewable energy within their plants.