The world’s first naturally refrigerated truck is set for its debut

09/09/2013

The move could eventually help to cut the company's carbon footprint by up to 10,000 tonnes a year.

Sainsbury’s announced late last week that it has teamed up with natural refrigeration technology specialist Carrier Transicold for a two-year trial of its NaturaLINE HFC-free refrigeration system in a working refrigerated trailer.

HFC's are a powerful greenhouse gas and, according to Sainsbury's, switching the company's entire fleet of refrigeration trucks to the new system could cut the company's carbon footprint by 10,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, resulting in savings equal to 70,000 tonnes over the seven year lifespan of a standard truck.

The new truck forms part of a major push from Sainsbury's to reduce the environmental impact of its refrigeration technologies. The company converted its refrigerated depots to HFC-free technologies in 2011 and claims to be on track to switch 250 stores to CO2 refrigerant by 2014 with over 160 stores already using the technology.

The trial is also designed to complement the company's recent expansion of its dual-fuel fleet of trucks, which use a combination of diesel and bio-methane fuels to cut emissions by 25% compared to standard trucks.

"This is the very first time that our NaturaLINE system has been mounted to a box trailer anywhere in the world," revealed David Appel, president of Carrier Transicold. "It's a fantastic opportunity to advance Carrier's natural leadership in environmental technologies, by working closely with Sainsbury's, one of our largest customers in Europe, to test how the concept performs on the road."