Energy performance: how to link production and sustainability in industry?

Can industry remain competitive while improving its energy performance?

This complex equation is at the heart of a sustainable and resilient future, as industry weighs heavily on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

It is also the key to maintaining energy independence in a world under stress.

While industrial decarbonization remains a challenge, signs of hope are emerging.

Between concrete solutions, innovations, incentive policies and cooperation, the transition is under way and reveals an encouraging reality: combining production, sustainability and energy performance is possible for all industries, regardless of their size and sector of activity.

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What is energy performance?

Energy performance — or energy efficiency — refers to the ability of an industry to reduce energy consumption, without compromising productivity, quality and continuity of its production.

Energy performance values the company : it improves its carbon footprint, strengthens its environmental image, seduces customers, attracts investors, and attracts talent and retains it.

At the heart of the attention of stakeholders, it is fully in line with the “E” of CSR (Social and Environmental Responsibility) and extra-financial ESG criteria (Environment, Social, Governance). It is also scrutinized by contractors to preserve the scope 3 of their carbon balance.

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What is the status of energy performance in industry today?

“Encouraging efforts but still significant room for improvement” : this is how we could summarize the assessment of the energy performance of industry in France. A nuanced but nevertheless promising observation in a world where the industry is struggling to decarbonize.

Industrial energy consumption in France

With 283 TWh consumed in 2023, the industry represents 19% of national energy consumption.

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In one year, its consumption fell by 5.2%, confirming the downward trend observed since 2011 (- 1.7% on average each year). While this evolution reflects industry's efforts to improve energy performance, it also reflects a less encouraging reality: the decline in industrial activity.

Energy intensity — that is to say the relationship between energy consumption and added value - better sheds light on the progress made. Between 1990 and 2023, this indicator fell by 35% in French industry.

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However, France remains above the European average, with 954 MWh per million dollars, compared to 872 for the European Union.

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The energy mix of French industry is largely dominated by electricity (37%) and natural gas (36%), followed by oil (10%), heat (8%), renewables (7%) and coal (2%).

This profile places France among the countries most advanced in the industrial energy transition, in contrast to a global landscape largely dominated by fossil fuels.

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Greenhouse gas emissions from industry in France

In France, industry accounts for 17% of greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2023, it emitted 65 million tons of CO2 equivalent, or a drop of 54% since 1990. 

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One sector is an exception: Construction, whose emissions increased by 3% over the same period.

These results rank France among the good students in the world. With 9 Gt of CO2 emitted in 2022 (i.e. +70% since 2000), industry accounts for a quarter of global emissions.

These figures highlight a reality: the difficulty for the industrial sector to decarbonize, linked to highly polluting transformation processes.

In France, chemistry, non-metallic minerals (cement, lime, lime, glass, plastic...), construction materials, metallurgy and agri-food concentrate 80% of industrial emissions.

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Industrial energy performance: a global priority

In France and around the world, governments are multiplying initiatives to support industry towards a more economical and resilient energy model.

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A global trajectory towards carbon neutrality

The decarbonization of industry is part of the international framework of Net Zero Emission (NZE) screenplay. Based on the Paris Agreements, it aims to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

In Europe, the Fit for 55 legislative package sets a first key step: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

France is pursuing this objective via the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC) which plans to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.

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Incentive policies for industrial energy performance

In France, the momentum of decarbonization and energy performance in industry is launched.

Supported by an incentive policy, it is based on several key measures:

• The Industry Pact program which supports manufacturers in their energy transition.
• Of financial supports, such as the Chaleur Fund, the Energy Savings Loan (PEE) and the Energy Saving Certificates: it should be noted that since September 2025, four polluting industries (aluminum, steel, steel, cement, fertilizers) have benefited from a doubling of the EECs for the replacement of fossil energy by a low-carbon alternative.

• The expansion of carbon balance to companies with more than 250 employees and to listed SMEs, in application of the Directive Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CARD).
• The Tertiary decree which requires the gradual reduction of the energy consumption of buildings for tertiary use (head offices, offices, laboratories, etc.).

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What concrete solutions to reconcile production and sustainability?

The bulky energy consumption of industry is not inevitable. Between simple, easily accessible solutions, and technological innovations, energy performance is becoming a concrete reality for all industries.

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Improving and managing energy efficiency

THEenergy audit, Thethermal insulation of the buildings, the replacement of energy-intensive equipment And the energy sobriety are the four pillars of an effective consumption reduction approach. The good news? They are available to all businesses.

The energy management on a daily basis allows you to go even further. Thanks to IoT (Internet of Things) meters and sensors, intelligent energy management offers a real-time view of consumption, facilitates the detection of anomalies and optimizes the management of equipment. The result: an estimated reduction in electricity consumption between 10 and 30%.

With Pilott, manage the energy performance of your industry, day after day. From a centralized interface and with the support of an expert, visualize your consumption, detect your differences and identify concrete levers to optimize your uses and reduce your bills.

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Optimizing industrial processes

Industrial processes are particularly energy-intensive, especially those involving refrigeration or raising high temperatures. To improve their energy performance, two levers derived from thermodynamics are essential:

• Limiting energy losses on production lines, thanks to more efficient equipment (high-efficiency motors, compressors with heat recovery, etc.)
• Recover and valorize waste heat by reusing it for heating or electricity production.

La predictive maintenance is another asset for improving the energy performance of production. Thanks to IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI), it anticipates breakdowns, reduces shutdowns and maintains equipment performance. More generally, The AI can also model consumption needs, adjust energy flows and avoid waste.

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Decarbonizing energy

Decarbonizing industry is a priority of the France 2030 plan.

The objective: to replace fossil fuels with renewable and low-carbon sources. Three disruptive technologies are particularly encouraged:

• The electrification of uses, to take advantage of 95% carbon-free French electricity. Many industries are investing in photovoltaic self-consumption, coupled with storage solutions and optimized via industrial microgrids (smart local networks connecting production, storage and consumption).
• Green hydrogen (produced from renewable sources), to replace gray hydrogen, widely used in the oil, chemical or steel industry.
• Biomass to produce high-temperature heat or replace petroleum-based compounds.

The State supports this decarbonization, through energy transition contracts Signed with the 50 industrial sites that emit the most CO2 (ArcelorMittal, TotalEnergies, Solvay, Naphtachimie, etc.) ADEME also carries several Calls for projects, dedicated to Low Carbon Industrial Zones or to Hydrogen Innovation.

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Modernizing transport and energy storage infrastructures

Decarbonization involves the need to modernise networks in order to integrate renewable and low-carbon energies. In France, NaTran, GRDF and Teréga are actively working to adapt existing infrastructures and develop new networks. to transport hydrogen and biomethane.

At the European level, a vast hydrogen backbone project is currently being deployed, involving 28 countries. At the same time, regional networks emerging to connect producers to consumer industrial sites, such as in the Rhine region, in Dunkerque or in the Fos-Marseille basin.

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Collaborating for success

Meeting energy challenges requires the industry to provide large-scale solutions, often based on technologies that are still innovative, experimental and expensive. This transformation cannot be done alone: it is based on a close collaboration between manufacturers and energy companies.

Numerous projects bear witness to this. It is observed in the deployment of solar power plants on industrial sites (Toyota, TRA-C Industrie, Baudin...) or in pilot projects carried out in industrial areas. In Fos-sur-Mer, the demonstrator Jupiter 1000 associates producers, transporters and manufacturers to test the production, storage, injection and consumption of green hydrogen.

The same logic underlies CO2 capture and storage projects (BATTERIES). In Saint-Nazaire, Elengy works with several manufacturers to capture and transport CO2 to geological storage areas.

The transition to a more sustainable industry also involves an evolution of internal practices and the development of a culture of sustainability, at all levels of the company.

Beyond major projects, energy performance is also a factor in daily choices. With Sirenergies, benefit from local support to co-build concrete tailor-made solutions, in line with your field challenges.

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To conclude...

Linking energy performance and industrial competitiveness is an arduous challenge. But it is now within the reach of all industries thanks to accessible concrete solutions and innovative technologies. Regardless of its size and sector of activity, each industry can strengthen its resilience and sustainability, while maintaining its production.

While the road to carbon neutrality is still long and full of pitfalls, current progress shows that the transition is under way. Do you want to join the movement?

Sirenergies helps you imagine concrete solutions at your scale and transform your industry into a sustainable and efficient industry.

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