Energy Efficiency in Italian Fruit and Vegetables Processing Industries in the EU Agro-Food Sector Context

The food and beverages industry is a leading manufacturing sector in Europe. In 2012, the Italian agro-food industry, including farming, food industry, retail, services, and other related components, has reached the 17% of GDP. In terms of energy consumption, the whole agro-food system consumes large amounts of fossil fuels for the production of vegetable and animal food. This paper draws attention to the agro-food industry in Italy and in the European context, exploring more in details the fruit and vegetables industrial sector. Main measures, policies and technologies determining energy consumption in the agro-food industry are focused. Furthermore, available energy efficiency improvement tools and feasible ways to efficiently manage most of energy consumptions are discussed.