Energy Transitions in the Food Sector: The Economic Viability of Low-carbon Technologies in the Swiss Dairy Industry

Swiss dairy products are globally sought after but their production requires relatively large amounts of process heat, often generated from oil and gas. Low-carbon electricity- biomass-based solutions exist were regarded as economically not viable in the past. Therefore, we evaluate economic viability low-carbon technologies for industry scenarios low high fossil fuel prices Europe, its sensitivity to emission cost pathways. Results show a clear advantage heat pumps biomass boilers going forward, driven particularly by expected future gas prices.