Oct. 24 – Marbella, Spain, hosted the presentation of the European project for energy efficiency in the agro-food sector, Synergy: Improving Energy Efficiency through innovation transfers to SMEs in the Mediterranean. Coordinated by ENEA, the project involves eight partners from Spain, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Albania. The project is co-funded for approximately €2 million from the European Commission under the Transnational Med Cooperation Program: Europe in the Mediterranean. Other partners include the Federation of Italian food, Federalimentare, who is in charge of communication and dissemination of the project’s results. Federalimentare will bring together food industry associations, providing its members with a series of technical transfer activities that will create real value added in terms of competition and improved environmental sustainability standards. The project will also set up a Mediterranean Alliance for Energy Efficiency in the food sector to provide a multi-year investment plan shared by trade associations, companies and research centers in line with the objectives of the European “Climate and energy package” (reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 %, raise to 20% the share of energy produced from renewable sources and a 20% energy savings by 2020). The latter activity will see the collaboration of Euris, a Padua strategic consulting company for participation in European programs and policies, which will coordinate the international working group that will develop investment plans aimed at supporting new models of “green” production in the agribusiness sector.
