Unilever is to trial the usage of ice cream freezers that function at barely hotter temperatures within the hope that reducing down on power use may scale back greenhouse fuel emissions by round 20 to 30 p.c per freezer, the patron items big introduced this week.
Beginning with a trial in Germany subsequent month adopted by a second in Indonesia subsequent 12 months, the agency mentioned it aimed to discover the affect on its ice cream merchandise and power efficiency of working its freezers at minus-12 levels Celsius in real-world situations, reasonably than the present {industry} common normal of minus-18 C.
If profitable, Unilever mentioned it could work to progressively “heat up” its last-mile freezer cupboards throughout numerous markets worldwide, beginning with international locations and areas the place its carbon footprint from cooling operations is highest so as to “obtain the utmost reductive affect” on its CO2.
Emissions from retail ice cream freezers account for 10% of Unilever’s worth chain greenhouse fuel footprint.
Matt Shut, president of Unilever ice cream enterprise, mentioned that if the trials proved efficient at reducing down on emissions, power use and prices, whereas making certain the standard of ice cream merchandise will not be affected, then different ice cream producers may comply with swimsuit.
“These pilots will present invaluable info on how a lot power we are able to save and the way our ice cream merchandise carry out in hotter freezers to make sure we ship the identical great-tasting ice cream,” he defined. “We’re actively searching for to collaborate with companions from throughout the ice cream and frozen meals sectors to drive industry-wide change, so the collective constructive affect is way larger.”
Emissions from retail ice cream freezers account for 10 p.c of Unilever’s worth chain greenhouse fuel footprint, it mentioned.
The agency is subsequently searching for to scale back these emissions by numerous efforts to chop down on power consumption utilizing technical improvements, renewable electrical energy and exploring whether or not it’s attainable to “heat up” its chilly chain of frozen and chilled merchandise.
The newest pilot kinds a part of Unilever’s overarching goal to attain web zero emissions throughout its operations and power use by 2030, and to ship web zero throughout its full worth chain — referred to as Scope 3 emissions — by 2039.
