If on-site conditions are favourable, it is efficient to integrate renewable energy into production processes. It has strong potential in several subsectors of the food and beverage industry, wherever there is demand for heating, for example in beer, wine, and cheese manufacturing.

Renewable heat can be generated from:

• Solar systems
• Biomass
• Biogas

Integrating solar heating in a production plant requires two main systems; solar thermal collectors and thermal storage. Renewable heat from biomass can come from forest residues, feedstock, other solid waste and wastewater from production. Take, for example, wineries which can use pruning offcuts from the vines, or a manufacturing site where forestry residues are easily available. When biomass like this is available, renewable heat can be generated by burning the material, or in a co-generation CHP system, or from an anaerobic digestion plant.