Raising frozen temperatures could slash emissions

December 05, 2023

A coalition led by Dubai-based multinational logistics company DP World is calling for frozen food temperatures to be set at -15°C as standard to cut carbon emissions.

Most frozen food is transported and stored at -18°C, a standard that was set 93 years ago and has not changed since. It is argued that if these frozen food temperatures could be changed by just 3° it would save 17.7 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, without compromising food safety or quality.

Researchers from the International Institute of Refrigeration, the University of Birmingham and London South Bank University, among others, found that the small change would also create energy savings of around 25TW/h – equivalent to 8.63% of the UK’s annual energy consumption – and cut costs in the supply chain by up to 12%.

The coalition has already been joined by a number of leading industry organisations including AJC Group, AP Moller – Maersk, Daikin, DP World, the Global Cold Chain Alliance, Kuehne + Nagel, Lineage, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Ocean Network Express.

“Frozen food standards have not been updated in almost a century. They are long overdue for revision,” said DP World’s chief sustainability officer Maha AlQattan. “With this research and with our newly formed coalition, we aim to support collaboration across the industry to find viable ways to achieve the sector’s shared net zero ambition by 2050.”

Dubbed The Move to -15°C, the initiative seeks to create a just transition, deploying accessible storage technologies globally to freeze food at sustainable temperatures to reduce food scarcity for vulnerable and developed communities alike. DP World has made the research accessible to all and invited stakeholders, industry leaders and interested parties to show support for the campaign.

“The Move to -15°C will bring the industry together to explore new, greener standards to help decarbonise the sector on a global scale. Through this research, we can see how we can deploy accessible storage technologies in all markets to freeze food at sustainable temperatures, while reducing food scarcity for vulnerable and developed communities,” said AlQattan.

Further information on the DP World website.