The British dairy industry has surpassed its own targets with a 15% improvement in its energy efficiency since 2008, research has shown.
Dairy Energy Savings’ data demonstrates that the sector has outperformed its own target of a 13.6% improvement in energy savings, which was first agreed as part of the industry’s Climate Change Agreement Scheme. In the first phase of the scheme between 1998 and 2010, dairy companies outperformed the 22.5% target by nearly 5.5%.
The achievement announced by Dairy UK this month has also meant that the dairy sector has met the target that was set as part of the 2020 Dairy Roadmap.
The improvements are a result of an industry-wide move towards more efficient equipment, technologies and product mixes, and a switch to more energy efficient fuels. Many sites have also started to map their energy use patterns to identify energy hotspots where reductions can be made, leading to efficiency improvements in steam generation, refrigeration and compressed air, Dairy UK said.
Dairy Energy Savings chairman Gerry Sweeney said: “These results tell us that the scheme continues to drive improvement in the dairy sector. The figures indicate that dairy companies are committed to their sustainability goals in a pragmatic and purposeful way.”
Dairy UK chief executive Dr Judith Bryans added: “Environmental sustainability is paramount to the dairy industry and it is extremely encouraging to see such positive results. These figures clearly show that we are taking our environmental responsibilities very seriously.”
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