Economic and environmental evaluation of customers' flexibility participating in operation markets: Application to the meat industry

This paper presents a methodology, which is applied to the meat industry, for the evaluation and assessment of the economical impact of customers participating in operation markets by using the flexibility they may have, as well as the amount of CO2 avoided to be emitted into the atmosphere. The particular market conditions in the Spanish context have been considered. Thus, real prices of operation markets in Spain have been used to evaluate the potential profitability, even if customers are not actually allowed to participate in such markets at the moment. The economic evaluation requires a cost-benefit analysis, as presented in the methodology. The procedure followed evaluates the maximum daily benefit obtained by the customer when offering all its flexibility in operation markets, so that it can make a decision based on the expected benefits. In order to determine the value of this benefit, different aspects are evaluated, including the amount of money saved during the flexibility actions due to the energy not consumed or shifted to cheaper periods, as well as the costs that the customer incurs when a flexibility action is performed. Finally, the obtained results for a typical customer are extrapolated to the whole segment in the country.The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Campofrio Food Group, S.A. This work was supported by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion) and FEDER EU funds under Research Project ENE2010-20495-C02-01.Alcázar Ortega, M.; Álvarez Bel, CM.; Domijan, A.; Escrivá Escrivá, G. (2012). Economic and environmental evaluation of customers' flexibility participating in operation markets: Application to the meat industry. Energy. 41(1):368-379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2012.03.003S36837941

Rethinking policy options for industry : appropriateness in policies for industry and UK farming and food

This article assesses the appropriateness of lean supply and partnership relationship management policies as a means of invigorating industry, using the example of the UK pig and beef industry. The analysis assesses the extent to which it is operationally feasible, and with what commercial consequences, in UK pig and beef supply chains and markets. The analysis demonstrates that the lean and partnering approach is not always operationally feasible. Furthermore, when it is operationally feasible dominant players only – such as multiple retailers – appear to benefit commercially from its adoption. Given this, alternative policy options may be required in the future for such reinvigoration of industry. A framework to guide policy selection is provided