14 DAY TRIAL // Both Marks & Spencer and Starbucks are making considerable progress towards bringing their ecological footprint down to a minimum. Thus, the companies plan to roll a new delivery fleet that will release less greenhouse gas emissions than the one they currently use does.
Specifically, Marks & Spencer, together with Starbucks, wishes to switch from using regular vehicles to transport goodies to using so-called FROSTCRUISE ones.
Linde Gases, i.e. the company marketing the FROSTCRUISE vehicles, says that these four-wheelers are fitted with a highly innovative refrigeration system that allows them to keep the merchandise inside them cool while reducing greenhouse gases emissions.
“FROSTCRUISE is a highly innovative in-transit refrigeration system developed by Linde that provides a significantly more environmentally friendly, efficient and reliable cryogenic alternative to diesel-powered mechanical refrigeration,” Linde writes on its website.
“The overall carbon footprint reduction is 19 percent compared with current systems,” it adds.
According to Business Green, Linde's eco-friendly refrigeration system works by making liquid nitrogen stored in a tank at -196 degrees Celsius run through a heat exchanger whose surface area is fairly large.
When moving through the heat exchanger, the liquid nitrogen evaporates and cold air is produced. The cold air is then circulated inside the vehicle by powerful fans.
The same source tells us that the system's thermal efficiency is as high as 97%, meaning that just 3% of the liquid nitrogen's refrigeration capacity is lost.
For the time being, a total of six FROSTCRUISE vehicles are being trialed by Marks & Spencer, and Starbucks stores in Europe. Should things go as planned, the companies might consider replacing their entire delivery fleet.
“Trialling new, innovative technologies like FROSTCRUISE is an important part of Plan A, our eco and ethical program,” Anthony Whitehouse, logistics manager, at Marks & Spencer, commented on the initiative.
“We’ve achieved a great deal in reducing emissions and road miles but we can and will do more. Projects like this help us find ways and partners to help us achieve this and tackle some of the biggest challenges we face,” he added.