Abstract
Over the last few decades, process industries have invested increasing efforts in developing technical and operating solutions related to industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency in both production processes and auxiliary services. In particular, new technologies that enable industrial symbiosis, such as novel treatment processes for byproduct extraction and valorization, water purification, and energy transformation, were implemented in different sectors. This work analyses recent relevant results in the implementation of industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency solutions within process industries across Europe, based on the transactions of energy and material flows. Current developments, based on the circular economy’s transformation levers and related achieved results, were taken into account by considering the achieved results coming from the literature, EU-funded projects, programmes, and initiatives on the implementation of technical solutions and practices related to industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency. In addition, the most relevant challenges deriving from the implementations of industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency were analysed. A comprehensive picture of the sectors involved in achieving more proactive cross-sectorial cooperation and integration was provided, as well as an analysis of the main drivers and barriers for IS and EE implementation in future scenarios for European process industries.
Highlights
Published: 16 August 2021Over the last few decades, the negative impacts on the environment, mainly due to increased urbanization and industrialization, as well as the intensive use of land and natural resources, have led to a growing interest in the concepts of industrial symbiosis (IS) and energy efficiency (EE), and their potentials in terms of environmental, economic, and social aspects
Case studies on IS and EE have grown in recent decades, only in recent years has this trend increased, due to the increased attention and commitment to sustainability related to high energy consumption and waste/byproduct production
The process industries considered, such as the chemical industry, cement industry, paper industry, steel and iron industry, power plants, and refineries, appear most frequently in IS
Summary
Published: 16 August 2021Over the last few decades, the negative impacts on the environment, mainly due to increased urbanization and industrialization, as well as the intensive use of land and natural resources, have led to a growing interest in the concepts of industrial symbiosis (IS) and energy efficiency (EE), and their potentials in terms of environmental, economic, and social aspects. Smart management and efficient recycling of waste and water represent further important measures to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of production processes On this subject, case studies on IS and EE have grown in recent decades, only in recent years has this trend increased, due to the increased attention and commitment to sustainability related to high energy consumption and waste/byproduct production. Symbiosis is defined as the “association of individuals of different species in a relationship where there is mutual benefit” [8] By applying this concept to industry, IS “engages traditionally separate entities in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and by-products” [9]. IS is associated with transactions in which an organization acquires underutilized resources (including infrastructure and services) from the organization generating them, and integrates such resources into its own production process [11], resulting in mutual advantages from economic, environmental and social perspectives [12]
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