Green Refrigeration for Supermarkets

by Jessie Cacciola, Posted Sep 10th 2010 @ 2:00PM

dairy section of the grocery store Photo: cafenut, Flickr

Back in July, we reported on supermarkets using solar panels, something Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market was early to adopt; now they've got yet another cool tool up their green sleeves: CO2 refrigeration. We know, CO2 hardly screams "good for the ozone," but the technology actually earned the chain a GreenChill certification from The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Here's why: Compared to standard refrigeration units, the system is estimated to drastically reduce the store's carbon footprint. That's because standard units are made with a potent greenhouse gas, hydrofluorocarbons (HCFC) -- 1,400 times more damaging to the environment than naturally occurring CO2. The EPA says that most refrigeration units in the U.S. use HCFCs in "direct expansion systems," which are typically "charged with 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of refrigerant and can leak in excess of 20 percent each year."

A "cascade system" with CO2 cuts down on energy waste by using dual refrigerants to battle varying temperatures. One part of the system brings the unit to medium cool; the other, with a refrigerant that works at a lower boiling point (like CO2), brings the unit to freezing.

Although it sounds sort of space age, CO2 refrigeration technology isn't new. It goes back to the 20th century, when air conditioning and refrigeration were in transition. Since CO2 is a natural refrigerant, it was one of the original coolants of choice. But an early technological drawback led to a switch-out for chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. Remember the revolt over those? They were seriously damaging, cutting right through the UV-filters in our fine stratosphere. So we switched to HCFC, which didn't quite attack the ozone, but didn't exactly earn us any brownie points either.

Then, in 2000, new technologies, like über-thin, lightweight aluminum tubing (for cheaper installation), brought CO2 systems back to the table. They had proliferated in Europe for about a decade, with more than 1,000 units installed, stated Supermarket News last October, right around when the U.S. was beginning to seriously consider adoption of the technology. In September of that same year, the site notes the EPA's approval for use of CO2 as a replacement for HCFC.

One of the first grocery stores to use CO2 refrigeration was Food Lion in College Park, GA, last October. Fresh & Easy's newest outpost in Rosemead, CA (the company's 100th location in the state) will also use CO2 refrigeration -- it will reduce the store's impact on our ozone by 70 percent and lower its global warming potential by 50 percent.

Filed Under: News, Eco-Friendly
Tags: carbon footprint, CarbonFootprint, CO2, co2 emissions, Co2Emissions, epa, green technology, greenhouse gases, GreenhouseGases, GreenTechnology, hydroflourocarbon, refrigeration, supermarket

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-11-2010 @6:28PM Berkana said... Re: 'CO2 hardly screams "good for the ozone," '

CO2 doesn't harm the ozone layer. You're confusing CO2 with CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).
Reply