ABSTRACT
The manufacturing industry utilizes almost one-third of the total energy consumed in the United States. Over the past 15 years, the energy intensity of the U.S. economy has been decreased by approximately 50% mainly because of the applications of effi cient manufacturing technologies (Fischer et al., 2007). The food industry is recognized as one of eight energy-intensive manufacturing industries in the United States, among which are food, paper, bulk chemicals, petroleum refi ning, glass, cement, steel, and aluminum (Unruh, 2002). The energy cost in the food industry ranks the third among all input costs behind raw materials and labor (U.S. EPA, 2007).
