The UK retailer is the first company in the world to introduce a refrigerated delivery truck cooled by a liquid nitrogen–powered engine, which will eliminate all emissions associated with refrigeration.
Supplied by cooling technology specialists Dearman and its partners, the zero-emission cooling unit replaces the traditional diesel engine used to chill the vehicle and will significantly cut emissions.
During the three-month trial, the vehicle is expected to save up to 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of driving more than 14,500km in a modern family car. The trial will also save 37kg of nitrogen oxides and 2kg of particulate matter, compared to a similar diesel system.
“As one of Britain’s biggest retailers, we really recognise the importance of reducing emissions, which is why we’re working hard to cut carbon emissions by 30 per cent between 2005 and 2020,” Sainsbury’s Head of Sustainability Paul Crewe said.
“This trial with Dearman is just one of the innovations we’ve introduced to help us towards this goal. Their zero-emission system is really exciting: to be running a liquid air engine quite literally means our cooling is running on thin air.”
The trial is the latest in a series of innovations from Sainsbury’s. Following a trial in 2013, it became the first company in the world to use CO2 as a natural refrigerant and has now taken on three trucks with cooling fuelled by this method. Furthermore, earlier this year the company introduced R452A as a cooling agent in its transport and announced that all new delivery fridges would run on this. R452A is recognised as a cleaner cooling agent and will help reduce emissions by 45 per cent, compared with the more commonly used R404A.