Globally, final energy consumption is not mostly accounted for by electricity.
Although it may surprise many, 51% is related to heat and cold, 32% is attributed to transport and 17% to electricity.
In terms of demand exclusively from the industry, the figures are even larger.
74% of consumption is heat and 26% is electricity (IEA).
Daniel García , CEO of the company Modulo Solar, used these values to indicate during an ATA Insights webinar that there is great potential to explore for the use of renewable energy for heat generation in the industrial sector.
"There is a whole range of mature, technologically viable and cost-effective technical solutions from the point of view of return on investment, primarily for industries," said the Mexican expert in solar thermal energy.
In his analysis, he indicated that there are different types of industrial processes below 150º that could be covered with systems based on solar thermal technology; such as in the chemical industry where there are boiling processes or in the food industry where there are pasteurization, sterilization, washing and drying processes, etc.
"Solar thermal energy is a mature and proven technology, which in some countries even has greater penetration than other types of technologies such as photovoltaics," added the representative of Modulo Solar, a company internationally recognized for its product availability and solutions for harnessing solar energy, as well as its achievements in R&D and certifications.
Experience in Mexico in recent years would demonstrate this, and to clear up some uncertainties about this type of application, Daniel García brought the following case studies of the success of solar thermal technology in the Mexican market:
Nestle
Preheating 500 m3/day at 37ºC. 3570 m2 ECOSUN
Location: Toluca, State of Mexico
Collector model: ECOSUN
Total catchment area: 3,570 m2
Required temperature: 37-39ºC
Percentage of energy contribution: 75%
Annual fuel savings: 285,600 liters of LP gas
Annual savings: $270,500 USD/year
Return on investment: 26 months 
Nestle
Grupo Bimbo
Systems for various areas of the plant. 60m3/day of water at 60ºC
Location: Mexico City
Collector model: Hiper tinox.
Sup.
BLUE
Total catchment area: 570 m2
Required temperature: 60ºC
Percentage of energy contribution: 72%
Annual fuel savings: 45,500 liters of LP gas
Annual savings: $43,100 USD/year
Return on investment: 36 months 
Grupo Bimbo
gsk - GlaxoSmithKline
System for various areas of the plant, 35m3/day of water at 65ºC
Location: Jiutepec, Mexico
Collector model: Hiper tinox.
Sup.
BLUE
Total catchment area: 360 m2
Required temperature: 65ºC
Percentage of energy contribution: 69%
Annual fuel savings: 28,800 liters of LP gas
Annual savings: $27,200
Return on investment: 38 months 
gsk - GlaxoSmithKline
Lavin Industries
Process hot water systems 30 m3
Location: Jiutepec, Morelos
Collector model: MS 2.5 BLUE
Total catchment area: 570 m2
Required temperature: 75ºC
Percentage of energy contribution: 67%
Annual fuel savings: 42,000 liters of LP gas
Annual savings: $39,800 USD/year
Return on investment: 41 months 
Lavin
Güeterman Polygal Factory
440 m2 solar adsorption chiller for 290 kW of adsorption cooling MYCOM ADR-50
Location: Cuernavaca
Collector model: hitinox glass 2.2.
Sup BLUE
Total catchment area: 441 m2
Required temperature: 85ºC
Percentage of energy contribution: 100%
The system delivers air conditioning while saving 290 kW of cooling.
Return on investment: 65 months 
Gütermann