"carbon footprint" news and stories

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."

Yesterday, the Stop & Shop supermarket chain announced complete installation of solar panels on eight of its stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey. We're guessing this news will elicit one of three reactions: satisfaction that another company has signed on to the reusable energy cause; disinterest because so many already have; or disbelief that any of these mounted plates are worth what they preach.

Many of us have seen the price comparison of what a standard home will save with Energy Star equipment, but imagine what a grocery store, open 24-hours with a 500K-sq-ft paneled roof, can save. Many big name grocery stores like ShopRite, Costco, Walmart, Safeway and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market are starting to see the benefit, too, but it didn't come without technological tweaking and decades of convincing.

It all started back in the 1860s -- actually, right around the time commercial refrigeration was invented -- when a man named Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel started playing with solar cells.

On Monday, the New York Times printed an opinion piece entitled, "Food That Travels Well" by James E. McWilliams. In it McWilliams states that while he is a passionate member of the "eat local" cohort, to be absolutely responsible about the carbon footprint of your food, you have to take more into account that just the place where that food was grown or raised.

He offers the convincing example of research done at Lincoln University in New Zealand (done in response to Europe's push to label their food with the number of miles it traveled from field to shelf) that found that lamb raised in New Zealand and shipped 11,000 miles to England emitted three-quarters less carbon dioxide emissions per ton than the lamb raised in England.

Until the FDA starts requiring food producers to print the amount of carbon dioxide emissions along with the fat grams on that package of chicken breasts, this isn't information to which we will have easy access. Neither do I think it means that people should stop buying their food locally when it is available and affordable. But it adds another layer of consideration to the already complex situation that we all face when we open the fridge every morning.

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