“There has never been a more important time to switch to natural refrigerants and incorporate significant energy reduction as part of your refrigeration strategy”. Jim Greene, CEO, Novum

Prolonged heat waves are currently gripping three continents. From Atlanta, Georgia to Rome, Italy, people are feeling the adverse effects of climate change. Islands in Greece are being evacuated due to raging forest fires whilst half century temperature records are being broken in Phoenix Arizona. According to US news networks, “nearly a third of all Americans are under some form of heat advisory”.

How are heatwaves linked to refrigeration choices?

Climate change and global warming are closely interconnected, with climate change being a broader term that encompasses various shifts in weather patterns and environmental conditions on Earth, while global warming specifically refers to the long-term increase in Earth’s average surface temperature.

Project Drawdown, which is viewed as “the most comprehensive plan to reverse global warming” lists “Refrigeration” as the number one solution to climate change. This is followed by wind turbines, Reduced Food Waste, plant rich diets and the land use of tropical forests.

In essence, hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants have the capacity to warm the atmosphere is by up to nine thousand times greater than CO² and removing climate changing HFC’s will reduce global warming by nearly 1° Fahrenheit, according to expert scientists.

Regardless of environmental legislation and when they are to be implemented the time for global supermarkets to take immediate action is now.

What can be done?

Step 1 is to move to a natural refrigerant solution. There are two main options here: either LEAP™ technology’s propane solution or CO² remote systems. Both propane and CO² have a very low Global Warming Potential (GWP). In regards LEAP™, it is the only plug-in technology in the market that can be installed at scale with low noise, low heat rejection and low energy consumption and is a viable, sustainable alternative to CO2 systems.

Step 2 is to reduce the energy consumption of your chosen refrigeration solution. Novums LEAP™ technology offers energy savings of up to 70% when compared to CO² and outdated HFC remote systems.

Step 3 is to reduce food waste. With a remote system, once a remote rack fails, all freezers go down also. This usually results in significant food waste, generally caused by leaks in the high-pressure system. LEAP™ is the low-pressure solution to this high-pressure problem as each door and chest freezer houses its own refrigeration system in a cassette. In the unlikely event of a cassette failing only one door is lost and, as Novum normally supply supermarkets with a spare cassette, this can be remedied quickly.

There exists a huge opportunity for supermarkets to do well, by doing good for society and the planet and embedding a proud culture across the team to achieve these goals. The cumulative effect on global warming of developing a refrigeration strategy than minimises the effect on the environment and at the same time meets supermarkets commercial goals is huge.