A global study has shown that farmers have seen an income reduction of 15% due to climate change, and the majority is looking for ways to help fight global warming. We have asked Tim Thain, Account Manager at Resource Data Management (RDM): how can refrigeration technology help?
Refrigeration is a cornerstone of our food production system. From the moment a crop is harvested to when it lands in the refrigerator at home, the ability to store food at the correct temperature will improve food security, safety, and reduce waste.
Refrigeration helps to protect crops in storage, ensures regulatory compliance, and extends the shelf life of the products. Refrigeration helps build resilience in our food system. When food is destroyed due to spoilage, it’s not just the crops, money, energy and work hours that are lost.Food is the largest user of water on the planet, so reducing food waste will directly impact the usage of key resources.
However, simply running a refrigeration system is not enough. It is important that the systems operate efficiently to ensure that running costs and emissions are as low as possible. When combined with the wider built environment, such as humidity control, it may also increase the yield for certain crops.
According to CIBSE, new research has found that cooling accounts for 15% of UK electricity consumption. Furthermore, without action to promote sustainable refrigeration and air conditioning, it could contribute half a degree to global warming. This in turn will have an adverse effect on crops and livestock.
Would refrigeration technology be expensive to implement?
Not at all. An efficiently controlled refrigeration system will be a wise investment, when considering the energy savings and food protection that it offers. In cold storage facilities with an existing refrigeration control infrastructure, it can also be very cost-effective to not replace the entire controls infrastructure at once. Instead, a central control and monitoring system front-end can be installed first.
With our open protocol solutions, it is possible to start with the installation of a front end, because it can communicate with the existing third-party controls. The third-party controls can then be replaced as and when required. This builds up a control and monitoring infrastructure across the estate slowly, without needing to replace still functioning equipment. It saves installation costs and reduces waste as it prevents equipment from going to landfills before it has reached end of life.
Given how important it is to ensure optimal conditions to store the harvest, what happens if there is a fault in the system?
Our systems can provide alarms to alert users of problems. The alarms can be set according to different criteria. Temperature alarms can alert users if the temperature rises above or falls below a certain threshold that would cause spoilage or deteriorate product quality.
Alarms can also be set to alert staff to equipment issues that would lead to inefficiencies and high energy use. Setting up alerts, users can take a proactive approach to manage their estate, instead of a reactive one, thus reducing the risk of stock losses, preventing equipment problems, and saving time and money dealing with maintenance issues.
Our systems can go further by supporting businesses with optimising their refrigeration systems to ensure that they are operating as efficiently and smartly as possible. We empower our customers to take a data-led approach by providing the data they need to optimise or install efficient refrigeration systems. Data can also be used on a wider scale to measure the effectiveness of sustainability plans, helping businesses assess if they’re going in the right direction or meeting targets. Using a data-led strategy helps build a resilient and sustainable business.
Our systems can be accessed remotely, with 24/7 monitoring. However, our customisable solutions go much further than this. It is possible to create a bespoke control and monitoring system that meets the exact needs of your business. For instance, you can control a farm’s soil irrigation system or finetune environmental conditions for growing chambers.
Farmers can access all devices across their whole estate, and have the power to make changes and adjustments to react to changing environmental conditions, such as temperatures, humidity, and CO2 levels.
How can farmers be sure that the crops are stored at the right temperature?
Our open protocol control and monitoring solutions provide the ability to monitor and log all refrigeration temperatures including those from third-party sensors and store data for regulatory compliance. These can be accessed at any time, and from any location via a web browser.
Users can also access their data in real time, providing much needed insights into the operation of their estate. Given the importance of storing crops at the correct temperatures and humidity levels, it is again essential to have access to data to spot any problems or inefficiencies as early as possible.
Accurate control of an estate is one aspect of decarbonising your built environment. When part of wider measures, such as installing heat pumps or passive environmental technologies, it is possible to reduce your operational energy and fugitive emissions.
About the interviewee: With over 20 years’ experience in refrigeration and building services engineering design and projects, Tim Thain has helped many businesses increase the efficiency of their refrigeration systems.
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