IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i12p3155-d1679999.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Use of Renewable Energy Sources in the Food Industry and the Reduction of CO 2 Emissions: A Case Study of a Simulated PV Installation

Author

Listed:
  • Patrycja Walichnowska

    (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Kaliskiego 7, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland)

  • Marcin Zawada

    (Department Faculty of Management, Czestochowa University of Technology, Armii Krajowej 19B, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland)

  • Adam Idzikowski

    (Department Faculty of Management, Czestochowa University of Technology, Armii Krajowej 19B, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland)

Abstract

This study includes a simulation of two variants of a 1 MW photovoltaic farm, differing in the types of photovoltaic modules used in the PVSyst program. The first uses monofacial modules, and the second uses bifacial. The studies showed an 8% increase in the energy obtained in the variant with bifacial modules, under the assumed simulation conditions. In the next stage, an environmental analysis was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method with a “gate-to-gate” approach for the mass packaging process in three different variants, differing in the source of energy powering the machines in the SimaPro program. In the first variant, electricity from the national energy mix was used. In the second, in addition to energy from the same mix, natural gas was additionally used in the shrinking stage of the film. In the third variant, energy obtained from a previously designed photovoltaic farm was considered. The results showed an about 80% reduction in the carbon footprint of the tested process in the case of changing the energy source to energy from a PV installation.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrycja Walichnowska & Marcin Zawada & Adam Idzikowski, 2025. "The Use of Renewable Energy Sources in the Food Industry and the Reduction of CO 2 Emissions: A Case Study of a Simulated PV Installation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:12:p:3155-:d:1679999
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/12/3155/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/12/3155/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Viktoria Mannheim & Judit Lovasné Avató, 2025. "Examining the Carbon Footprint of Conferences with an Emphasis on Energy Consumption and Catering," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Mohammad Fazle Rabbi & József Popp & Domicián Máté & Sándor Kovács, 2022. "Energy Security and Energy Transition to Achieve Carbon Neutrality," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Viktoria Mannheim & Károly Nehéz & Salman Brbhan & Péter Bencs, 2023. "Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Tariq Muneer & Mehreen Saleem Gul & Marzia Alam, 2022. "Modelling of a Large Solar PV Facility: England’s Mallard Solar Farm Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Rahimat O. Yakubu & Maame T. Ankoh & Lena D. Mensah & David A. Quansah & Muyiwa S. Adaramola, 2022. "Predicting the Potential Energy Yield of Bifacial Solar PV Systems in Low-Latitude Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Piotr Olczak & Małgorzata Olek & Dominika Matuszewska & Artur Dyczko & Tomasz Mania, 2021. "Monofacial and Bifacial Micro PV Installation as Element of Energy Transition—The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, January.
    7. Justyna Orłowska & Małgorzata Suchacka & Łukasz Trembaczowski & Robert Ulewicz, 2024. "Social Aspects of Establishing Energy Cooperatives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Hayibo, Koami Soulemane & Petsiuk, Aliaksei & Mayville, Pierce & Brown, Laura & Pearce, Joshua M., 2022. "Monofacial vs bifacial solar photovoltaic systems in snowy environments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 657-668.
    9. Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Gulagi, Ashish & Fasihi, Mahdi & Breyer, Christian, 2021. "Full energy sector transition towards 100% renewable energy supply: Integrating power, heat, transport and industry sectors including desalination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    10. Dominković, D.F. & Bačeković, I. & Pedersen, A.S. & Krajačić, G., 2018. "The future of transportation in sustainable energy systems: Opportunities and barriers in a clean energy transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P2), pages 1823-1838.
    11. Guo, Xiaopeng & Dong, Yining & Ren, Dongfang, 2023. "CO2 emission reduction effect of photovoltaic industry through 2060 in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Zsolt Buri & Csanád Sipos & Edit Szűcs & Domicián Máté, 2024. "Smart and Sustainable Energy Consumption: A Bibliometric Review and Visualization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-14, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Viktoria Mannheim & Zsuzsa Szalay & Renáta Bodnárné Sándor & Anita Terjék & Judit Lovasné Avató & Péter Sasvári & Zsolt István & Artúr Szilágyi & Orsolya Szalainé Kaczkó & Klára Tóthné Szita, 2025. "Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization Resulting from the Transition to Virtual Space," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Arsani Alina & Stefan George, 2024. "Energy Transition and European Sub-Models. Restructuring EU Economy," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 86-101.
    4. Oyewo, Ayobami Solomon & Solomon, A.A. & Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Aghahosseini, Arman & Mensah, Theophilus Nii Odai & Ram, Manish & Breyer, Christian, 2021. "Just transition towards defossilised energy systems for developing economies: A case study of Ethiopia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 346-365.
    5. Faik Bilgili & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Sevda Kuşkaya & Mohammed Alnour & Seyit Önderol & Mohammad Enamul Hoque, 2024. "Are research and development on energy efficiency and energy sources effective in the level of CO2 emissions? Fresh evidence from EU data," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 24183-24219, September.
    6. Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Breyer, Christian, 2024. "Role of smart charging of electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid in integrated renewables-based energy systems on country level," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    7. Lund, Henrik & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Sorknæs, Peter & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Chang, Miguel & Madsen, Poul Thøis & Kany, Mikkel Strunge & Skov, Iva Ridjan, 2022. "Smart energy Denmark. A consistent and detailed strategy for a fully decarbonized society," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    8. Łukasz Jarosław Kozar & Robert Matusiak & Marta Paduszyńska & Adam Sulich, 2022. "Green Jobs in the EU Renewable Energy Sector: Quantile Regression Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    9. Yi Lian & Yunfeng Shang & Fangbin Qian, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Spatial effects of green finance development in Chinese provinces under the context of high-quality energy development," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-32, April.
    10. David Firnando Silalahi & Andrew Blakers & Cheng Cheng, 2023. "100% Renewable Electricity in Indonesia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, December.
    11. Baumeister, Stefan & Leung, Abraham & Ryley, Tim, 2020. "The emission reduction potentials of First Generation Electric Aircraft (FGEA) in Finland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Géremi Gilson Dranka & Paula Ferreira, 2020. "Electric Vehicles and Biofuels Synergies in the Brazilian Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, August.
    13. Mehar Ullah & Daniel Gutierrez-Rojas & Eero Inkeri & Tero Tynjälä & Pedro H. J. Nardelli, 2022. "Operation of Power-to-X-Related Processes Based on Advanced Data-Driven Methods: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Goutte, Stéphane & Mhadhbi, Mayssa, 2024. "Analyzing Crisis Dynamics: How metal-energy Markets influence green electricity investments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Bartosz Wachnik & Zbigniew Chyba, 2021. "Key Growth Factors and Limitations of Photovoltaic Companies in Poland and the Phenomenon of Technology Entrepreneurship under Conditions of Information Asymmetry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Best, Rohan & Nibedita, Barsha & Nepal, Rabindra, 2024. "Energy transitions across household distributions in northern India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1151-1163.
    17. Barbara Uliasz-Misiak & Joanna Lewandowska-Śmierzchalska & Rafał Matuła & Radosław Tarkowski, 2022. "Prospects for the Implementation of Underground Hydrogen Storage in the EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Gebara, C.H. & Laurent, A., 2023. "National SDG-7 performance assessment to support achieving sustainable energy for all within planetary limits," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    19. Schmitz Gonçalves, Daniel Neves & Goes, George Vasconcelos & de Almeida D'Agosto, Márcio & Albergaria de Mello Bandeira, Renata, 2019. "Energy use and emissions scenarios for transport to gauge progress toward national commitments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    20. Heriberto Alcocer-García & Eduardo Sánchez-Ramírez & Eduardo García-García & César Ramírez-Márquez & José María Ponce-Ortega, 2025. "Unlocking the Potential of Biomass Resources: A Review on Sustainable Process Design and Intensification," Resources, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-56, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:12:p:3155-:d:1679999. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.