If we can make sustainability, and carbon reduction technology business models a viable commercial proposition for people and businesses in the short term, then it will pay huge dividends for the planet in the long term, because that better technology will actually be adopted. 

So, I am happy to see the superstructure for the cold storage rooms going up on the TAK Logistics site in Abuja, as part of the TechEmerge cold chain logistics project in Nigeria, supported by a grant from the International Finance Corporation and further supported by Kobo360. The cold rooms are to be built next by Lange & Grant and our waste-heat driven chillers will be arriving soon from the UK. They will be running off the exhaust of the existing generators which are providing power to the current activities on site.  

Food waste for staples such as tomatoes runs at levels approaching 65% in Nigeria, because it is too expensive to run conventional electrical cooling systems which require fuel to be used to generate that electricity, so there is no cold chain. ChillTech’s patented and unique products use no fuel, but run off the heat of the exhaust of existing generating capacity and so are carbon free and free of fuel costs. We also use a natural refrigerant which has zero Global Warming Potential, unlike most commonly used refrigerants.

This important project will help to lower food loss considerably. This will in turn lead to major savings in Greenhouse Gas emissions and the creation of an otherwise unattainable cold chain logistics business, to the great economic and social benefit of the whole food chain, from farmers to consumers.

And we will shortly be shipping out our technology for refrigerated truck cooling, so we can help to create the conditions for a proper hub-and-spoke model of long distance cold transport and cold storage hubs.