Dairy companies and suppliers of technology and equipment are being invited to form consortia to research and demonstrate new energy efficient technologies in both CIP and homogenization. The Carbon Trust will provide up to £500,000 per project to fund a maximum of 60% of project costs, depending on State Aid rules for the project type and size of company, as well as value for money considerations.
The organization, in partnership with Dairy UK, is inviting consortia to submit proposals to deploy less energy hungry and lower carbon technologies for clean-in-place (CIP) and homogenization.
The invitation comes as part of the Carbon Trust’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA): a £15m program that aims to generate a step change in reducing energy use and carbon emissions in British industry.
An initial phase to monitor energy use at dairy production sites has already taken place in collaboration with Robert Wiseman Dairies, Arla, Dairy Crest, BV Dairy, and Glanbia Cheese.
As a result, CIP and homogenization have been identified as two key processes where the demonstration and deployment of new technologies could significantly reduce energy use, operating costs and carbon emissions.
“Carbon emissions from clean-in-place in dairy are up to 46,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum and could account for as much as 5% of the sector’s total emissions. Similarly, homogenization is a very energy intensive process where alternatives could bring real cost and carbon savings,’ said Al-Karim Govindji, Technology Acceleration Manager at the Carbon Trust.
“The IEEA is designed to catalyze change by demonstrating new, lower-carbon technical solutions that can then be replicated widely across the dairy sector.”
The call for proposals is open from 21st September 2010 to 22nd November 2010.
Source: Carbon Trust; Dairy UK; and Proud of Dairy