Abstract
The implementation of Industrial Symbiosis and Energy Efficiency is linked to the ongoing technological development. New technologies can lead to an increased up-take of these concepts, which affect all areas of process industries and involve the whole workforce. The present paper describes part of the work developed in the early stage of a current Erasmus+ project entitled “Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis: A Cross-sectoral Blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry (SPIRE-SAIS)”. Such project aims at developing an industry-driven and proactive skills strategy to assist the implementation and exploitation of Industrial Symbiosis and Energy Efficiency across the energy-intensive industrial sectors, which are represented by the association of Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE). The main aspects of the current state of implementation of Industrial Symbiosis and Energy Efficiency in European process industries are analyzed. In addition, upcoming techniques and developments are taken into account for the main considered sectors, e.g., Iron and Steel, Chemical, Non-ferrous Metals, Mineral, Water, Ceramics, and Cement. Achieved results on implementation of technologies and practices based on Industrial Symbiosis and Energy Efficiency, as well as new challenges coming from their accomplishments are considered. Companies’ perceptions on future implementation of Industrial Symbiosis and Energy Efficiency are explored, together with possible barriers resulting in implementation practices and expected solutions to satisfy related ongoing and future skill demands.
Highlights
The concepts of Industrial Symbiosis (IS) and Energy Efficiency (EE) are receiving and ever increasing attention both in research activities and in the context of Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) that are actively committed to reduce resources and energy consumptions in their processes
This paper presents the investigation of the current state of the IS and EE in the European Process Industry through the analysis of the results from a survey carried out inside the SPIRE-SAIS project
The recruitment of participants was carried out both within the partners involved in the SPIRE-SAIS project, who in turn sent it to other companies
Summary
The concepts of Industrial Symbiosis (IS) and Energy Efficiency (EE) are receiving and ever increasing attention both in research activities and in the context of Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) that are actively committed to reduce resources and energy consumptions in their processes These actions aim at both reducing the environmental footprint of production processes and improving their efficiency, resulting in natural resources, energy and costs savings. The project aims at developing an industry-driven and proactive skills strategy to assist the implementation and exploitation of IS and EE in the EIIs. An assessment of. The resulting impact of these actions on workforce was considered This questionnaire was addressed to employees of the European process sectors and was launched in July 2020 until the end of 2020.
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