Improving cold chain energy efficiency: EU H2020 project for facilitating energy efficiency improvements in SMEs of the food and beverage cold chains

Industry has a substantial potential to improve its energy efficiency. The food and beverage sector and its cold supply chain are responsible for more than 10% of the total final energy consumption of the EU-28. Accurate refrigeration is required for optimal preservation of perishable goods and can be up to 85% of the food and beverage sector's total final energy consumption. High demand for refrigeration has adverse environmental effects such as direct emissions from refrigerant leakage and indirect emissions related to electricity or fossil fuels consumption. The Horizon 2020 project ICCEE (Improving Cold Chain Energy Efficiency) aims to support and advice small and medium enterprises (SME) from the food and beverage sector's cold chains to implement energy efficiency measures (EEMs) by an energy mapping of the cold supply chain including its transport and storage activities. Shifting from the myopic single company perspective to the chain assessment leads to increased energy savings potentials and reduced implementation gaps of EEMs.