Solar Powered Cold Chains – CO3 @ CliDemy

The food sector is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

And its emissions will only grow as the global population expands, especially from the southern hemisphere.

While a number of avenues are being tried out to reduce emissions during cultivation – and rightly so, as a majority of emissions are from this phase – the post harvest portion of the value chain too needs more focus.

The post harvest stage of the food chain sees significant losses especially for perishable food crops – especially fruits and vegetables. The dairy sector too faces a similar challenge.

In many developing and under-developed countries, this is resulting in food losses up to 30% before the food reaches the market.

Cold storage is one of the key solutions to dramatically reduce food loss. It is hence no surprise that the adoption of cold storage solutions is happening at a rapid pace worldwide.

But cold storage using conventional electricity poses two challenges: One, electricity might not be consistently available in many rural and remote regions where such cold storage is needed the most. Two, if powered by conventional electricity, cold storage contributes to the already high carbon footprint of the food value chain.

Solar power based cold storage is one solution that can take care of both the challenges, as solar power is both distributed (and thus available in rural and remote areas) and it is close to zero carbon. One reason for the slow uptake of solar based cold chains was the high cost of batteries that are needed to power the equipment 24×7, but with battery prices (especially for Li-ion batteries) coming down dramatically in the past few years, solar powered cold chains appear to be one business opportunity that promises both significant impact and profits.