Cryogenics way for an efficient and sustainable refrigerated transportation

Temperature-controlled or refrigerated transport is an essential link in the cold chain, designed to provide the end consumer with safe, high-quality perishable products. The products concerned are perishable foodstuffs or non-food products such as pharmaceuticals, flowers, plants, works of art, chemicals, etc. Frozen products are transported at a temperature of –18ºC or below, while fresh products are transported at a temperature above freezing point, i.e. between 0 and +8°C.

What's more, temperature-controlled transport of perishable products considerably reduces wastage, which ranges from 15 to 45% depending on the country and its infrastructure.

Thus, due to its importance in the cold chain, refrigerated transport represents considerable stakes, not only in economic, food safety and public health terms, but also in environmental terms: fossil fuel consumption, CO ₂ and greenhouse gas emissions, fine particle emissions and noise.

According to the latest UNEP report , the global fleet of refrigerated vehicles is around 4 million. It is divided between 40% Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs), 30% trucks (15 to 24 pallets) and 30% semi-trailers or trailers (33 to 36 pallets). In France, the segmentation is slightly different : in 2015, 53% LCVs; 25.7% semi-trailers and 21.4% trucks. The trend is similar in 2017.

There is a wide disparity between developed and developing countries in terms of temperature-controlled transport equipment. For example, there is around 1 refrigerated vehicle for every 500 inhabitants in Europe and North America, while there is only 1 for every 1,250 in South Africa, 1 for every 8,000 in China and 1 for every 100,000 in India.

These figures show the economic potential of this sector, which, with the expansion of the world's population and the improvement of living conditions in many developing countries, is set to grow at an average rate of 2.5% .

Technically speaking,...