Company Actions
How Supermarkets Can Take Action to Reduce The Climate Impacts of Cooling
Technology Adoption
Technologies that use low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and energy efficient designs are widely available. By installing best-in-class ultra-low GWP technologies in all new stores beginning in 2025, U.S. supermarkets can collectively avoid 45.7 million metric tons CO2e of HFC use by 2025. Converting existing stores to refrigerants with lower GWPs can also have a positive impact. Reducing average refrigerant GWP in all U.S. supermarkets by 50% would shrink refrigerant emissions in the U.S. by 33.7 million metric tons CO2e annually in 2030. More on technology adoption.
Refrigerant Management
Refrigerant management strategies focus on reducing refrigerant leaks and ensuring sustainable disposal refrigerants retired from systems at their end of life. Reducing leak rates to the GreenChill Partnership corporate average of 13% in all U.S. supermarkets can mitigate about 19 million metric tons of CO2e emissions annually in 2030. Destroying the HFCs retired from a single supermarket system containing 3,000 pounds of R-404A mitigates over 5,000 metric tons of CO2e. More on refrigerant management.
Policy & Commitments
Supermarkets can also take action by sharing public commitments or goals to reduce HFCs and by proactively engaging with stakeholders in industry and policy settings. This includes boh setting committments and disclosing information, as well as participation forums for dialogue on standards and code development, supply chain availability, technician training and certification, and state and federal policy and regulations. More on technical and policy dialogue.