Energy Efficiency Opportunities in California Food Processing Facilities

Abstract

California industry consumes over one-third of the state’s energy that is not used for electricity generating purposes. The California Energy Commission’s (Energy Commission) industrial energy efficiency program has delivered technical assistance to the state’s industrial sector to reduce their operating costs and help them to remain competitive in a global economy. BestPractices training workshops offered by the local utilities with sponsorship from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Commission cover process steam, process heating, compressed air, motor, pump, and fan systems. Technical services provided consist of conducting both targeted and plant-wide assessments of energy-consuming plant equipment and systems.

Since 2004 the Commission has conducted 10 targeted and plant-wide assessments in industrial facilities associated with the food processing industry. Two of these assessments were Energy Savings Assessments (ESA) funded under the DOE’s “Save Energy Now” Program. All the assessments used DOE software tools such as SSST, SSAT and 3E+ for steam system assessment and AirMaster+ for compressed air system assessment. Some of these audits are one-day walk through assessments. This paper summarizes the saving opportunities identified in these assessments with the focus on steam system assessments.