The UK food chain, comprising agricultural production, manufacturing, distribution, retail and consumption, involves more than 300,000 enterprises and employs 3.6 million people. The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector, employing 500,000 people and contributing £80 billion to the economy. It is also estimated that the food chain is responsible for 160 MtCO2e emissions and 15 Mt of food waste, causing significant environmental impacts. Energy is an important input in all stages of the food chain and is responsible for 18% of the UK's final energy demand.
In recent years, progress has been made in the reduction of energy consumption and emissions from the food chain primarily through the application of well proven technologies that could lead to quick return on investment. To make further progress, however, significant innovations will have to be made in approaches and technologies at all stages of the food chain, taking a holistic view of the chain and the interactions both within the chain and the external environment.
The EPSRC Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains will make significant contributions in this field. It will bring together multidisciplinary research groups of substantial complementary experience and internationally leading research track record from the Universities of Brunel, Manchester and Birmingham and a large number of key stakeholders to investigate and develop innovative approaches and technologies to effect substantial end use energy demand reductions.
The Centre will engage both in cutting edge research into approaches and technologies that will have significant impacts in the future, leading towards the target of 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, but also into research that will have demonstrable impacts within the initial five year lifetime of the Centre.
Taking a whole systems approach, the research themes will involve:
i) Simulation of energy and resource flows in the food chain, from farm-gate to plate to enable investigations of energy and resource flows between the stages of the chain and the external environment, and facilitate overall energy and resource use optimisation taking into consideration the impact of policy decisions, future food and energy prices and food consumption trends.
ii) Investigation of approaches and technologies for the reduction of energy use at all stages of the chain through reduction of the energy intensity of individual processes and optimisation of resource use. It is expected that a number of new innovative and more efficient technologies and approaches for energy reduction will be developed in the lifetime of the Centre to address processing, distribution, retail and final consumption in the home and the service sector.
iii) Identification of optimal ways of interaction between the food chain and the UK energy supply system to help manage varying demand and supply through distributed power generation and demand-response services to the grid.
iv) Study of consumer behaviour and the impact of key influencing factors such as changing demographics, increased awareness of the needs and requirements of sustainable living, economic factors and consumption trends on the nature and structure of the food chain and energy use.
Even though the focus will be on the food chain, many of the approaches and technologies developed will also be applicable to other sectors of the economy such as industry, commercial and industrial buildings and transportation of goods.
The Centre will involve extensive collaboration with the user community, manufacturers of technology, Government Departments, Food Associations and other relevant research groups and networks. A key vehicle for dissemination and impact will be a Food Energy and Resource Network which will organise regular meetings and annual international conferences to disseminate the scientific outputs and engage the national and international research and user communities

Potential Impact:
The Centre will carry out world class research into the reduction of energy, greenhouse gas emissions, resource use and related environmental impacts in the food chain taking into consideration techno-economic and behavioural aspects. It will engage both in cutting edge research that will have significant impacts in the future, leading towards the target of 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, but also research that will have demonstrable impacts (20%-50% reduction for specific projects) within the initial five year funding period.
The Centre will involve extensive collaboration across all stages of the chain which will include food and drink producers, manufacturers of technology, retailers, NGOs, food associations, other relevant research groups and networks to ensure maximum dissemination and impact. The industrial partners will be closely involved through participation in project meetings, representation on the Steering Committee, provision of data, projects and case studies as well as access to premises and facilities and funding projects in their specific area of interest, through studentships, equipment contributions and technology development in collaboration with the Centre. Cash and in-kind contributions from the 33 initial partners will exceed £1.8 million. The 3 partner universities will also make significant investment of £2.9 million, bringing the total investment in the Centre to over £12 million.
Working closely with some of the major food manufacturers (Cargill, Heineken, Heinz, Kraft, Pepsico, Premier Foods), major retailers (M&S, Iceland, Tesco, Waitrose), equipment manufacturers and suppliers (GEA Searle, WR Refrigeration, Monodraught, Hydropac), scientific and technical providers (Campden BRI, the Centre for Process innovation, Process Integration, Buro Huppold, DMAL, MML) the Centre will improve the energy performance, competitiveness and profitability of the UK food chain which will in-turn increase direct employment and training opportunities. The socioeconomic and behaviour aspects of the research will also identify key influencing factors that could lead to energy reduction as well as how energy demand might change in the future as a function of the changing demographics of the population, broad economic factors and the needs and requirements of sustainable living.
To maximise industry engagement, dissemination and impact, the Centre will involve active participation of all relevant Knowledge Transfer Networks (Biosciences, Chemistry Innovation, Environmental Sustainability) and trade associations and professional organisations (Food and Drink Federation, Food Storage and Distribution Federation, Institute of Food Science and Technology, IMechE, British Refrigeration Association) amongst others.
Another key vehicle for engagement and dissemination of scientific outputs will be the Food Energy and Resource Network which will organise regular meetings in collaboration with the other partner networks to engage the food sector and disseminate outputs and good practice. The Network will also organise annual international conferences to disseminate the scientific outputs and engage the international academic and research communities. Conference outputs will be published in relevant high quality international scientific journals and proceedings. The Network will also actively interact with all the other Energy Centres funded by RCUK.
The Centre will also provide a vehicle for the training of numerous post-doctoral and doctoral researchers (initially 40) in the fields of energy, food processing, sustainability, social research methods and behaviour change in a multidisciplinary environment to enable them to make valuable contributions in both industry and academia.
The KTNs and trade associations will also help bring together relevant industrial partners and the Centre to seek further funding from a range of sources to expand and extend its activities beyond the initial funding period.