The AGRI-COOL project was featured in the Invited Talks session of the Zero Emission Food Cold Chain workshop on 18 May 2026, alongside other projects and initiatives focused on decarbonisation across the food cold chain.
Experts from universities and industry joined the hybrid event, which opened with a dedicated ZECC, or Zero Emission Cold Chain, session. The session covered whole systems analysis, decarbonisation roadmaps, finance, and post-harvest management.
The afternoon Invited Talks session addressed food cold chain challenges in wholesale distribution, European supply chain emissions targets for 2050, transport and commercial refrigeration, the resilience of the UK cold supply chain to rising temperatures, frozen temperature maintenance, sustainable cooling centres of excellence in Africa, and cooling infrastructure for fisheries in Indonesia.
Anna Pacak from the International Institute of Refrigeration presented AGRI-COOL, a project developing solar-powered cold storage systems for rural communities in Africa. The systems are currently being tested in South Africa, Cape Verde, Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
The session closed with a panel discussion on opportunities and challenges for decarbonising the UK food cold chain.
