LIFE TTGG, Enersem’s analysis demonstrates how to save money and reduce CO2 emissions
A more energy efficient dairy is more economically efficient too. This is demonstrated by the studies carried out by Enersem, as part of LIFE TTGG project, in collaboration with the Grana Padano Cheese Protection Consortium, Milan Politecnico and Cattolica University of Piacenza. This increased efficiency can have a very positive impact on the entire dairy’s chain, especially for the phases that precede the production of the cheese, since resources that do not “end up in the bill” can be reinvested in sustainability.
The potential savings for dairies can reach 15-30% of the costs for gas and 10-20% of those for electricity, which in practice means being able to save up to more than 2 euros for each “forma” of Grana Padano produced. Let’s think of the whey cooling process, for example: , if fully exploited, the heat recovery possible in this phase of processing can lead to saving about 1.7 m3 of the gas used for each forma of GP produced, about a quarter of the potential total savings.
The commitment of dairy companies to sustainability has many other productive moments to express and brings lots of returns, partly achievable without replacing tools and systems: it is necessary to better exploit resources already available and use tools able to interpret data and giving them the right value, otherwise they are incomplete or not immediately readable. This is one of the tasks carried out by the software that Enersem is completing with its partners for the LIFE TTGG project: a software that will be available to all CTFGP consortium members and that can go beyond national borders. In fact, as already foreseen, it will also be used for the French Comté cheese and it will then be adapted for use by other consortia of Italian and European dairy PDOs.
| The Consorzio di tutela and the companies with PDO and PGI production can ask more information by writing to the person in charge of the Politecnico di Milano: pieter.ravaglia@polimi.it. |
Fonte: Enersem