NEPIC chosen to manage ?2m Europe-wide project

NEPIC are leading the way in sustainable industry after being appointed to manage a €2m Europe-wide project.

The Low Carbon Industrial Manufacturing Parks (LOCIMAP) project is aimed at identifying pathways for the development of sustainable industrial parks.

The project sees the North East Process Industry Cluster singled out as manager, reflecting its international standing as one of the leading business support organisations in the UK and Europe.

LOCIMAP is based around the concept of re-examining the structure of industry parks and using best practice benchmarks from leading parks in the EU.

The €2m EU funded project will seek opportunities to improve energy and resource efficiency and the reduction of CO2 emissions

Using business know-how and state of the art technical knowledge from across the European Union the two-year project will revitalise industry with a lower-carbon base.

Experts involved in LOCIMAP say that this can be achieved by closely integrating manufacturing complexes to allow them to operate at increased efficiency of energy and material use.

The project team, led by Mark Lewis Technical Manager of NEPIC will review of a comprehensive range of industrial processes representing a wide spectrum of energy sources and demands.

The multinational LOCIMAP project team will identify carbon targets for future manufacturing by studying areas of manufacturing integration and symbiosis.

By taking an holistic view of the dynamics of site and park operation the team hopes to identify new supply chain links needed to optimize performance.

NEPIC has already identified situations within its own Cluster of industries where such thinking could be beneficial to both the industries concerned and to the climate change agenda.

Stan Higgins CEO of NEPIC said “NEPIC are delighted and proud to be leading such an important piece of work on behalf of all industrial sectors across the EU.

“Clustering of businesses in industrial parks is nothing new, but in most instances not enough thought has been put into maximizing the efficiency of all the operations on a particular park.

“For example it is most usual that a park with 20 industrial units may have 20 steam raising boilers, 20 heating systems 20 electrical sub stations, 20 warehouses, 20 security systems and so on.

“When you see it written down like this the opportunities for improved efficiency and symbiosis become obvious

“Like most good ideas this is not rocket science, the best results often come from simple rational thinking and shared best practice rather than from new inventions.

“This EU funded project should result in simple practical advice that will enable the establishment of more sustainable industries in the future.”