The agrifood sector holds strategic importance in ensuring safe nutrition for everyone but is also known for its global environmental impact: according to Our World in Data (2022), food production accounts for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions.Within the food retail segment, supermarkets, warehouses, and related operations heavily rely on energy consumption, using refrigeration systems to guarantee food safety heating and cooking equipment for food preparation, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems to provide comfort for employees and customers.
While upgrading such equipment to newer and more efficient models is of the utmost importance, it is unlikely to be sufficient to achieve the demanding sustainability pledges and targets of many food sector companies. Thus, a key enabler to achieve the ambitious carbon neutrality targets set by many companies is in smarter energy monitoring and consumption, complemented by the incorporation of green energy.
MC (SONAE), the leading food retailer in Portugal and a HEDGE-IoT consortium member, is committed to ensure the decarbonization and adaptation of its operations in line with the Paris Agreement, signed by 195 nations at COP21 in 2015, that pledges to endeavour efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. To this aim, MC is committed to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040 and has been implementing a comprehensive decarbonization roadmap, including investments in upgrading equipment and in renewable energy generation for self-consumption.
MC sees R&D and Innovation in Energy as a fundamental vector to achieve such ambitious target. Digitalization and IoT-based solutions fostered by HEDGE-IoT will enable food sector companies such as MC to do a smarter energy monitoring and management, with real impacts in energy consumption and sustainability.
This will be achieved through connectivity of equipment, better access to relevant data on consumption and performance, supporting better decision-making. These advancements allow for the flexibilization of energy consumption, namely in refrigeration and HVAC systems, without compromising food safety and comfort for workers and customers.
The transition to smarter energy consumption is crucial for decarbonizing the food retail industry. By adopting digitalization and IoT solutions, companies like MC can achieve significant energy and sustainability milestones while maintaining operational efficiency and meeting ambitious carbon neutrality targets. This approach not only supports environmental goals but also ensures resilience and innovation in a rapidly evolving sector.
References:
Hannah Ritchie (2019) – “What are the environmental impacts of food and agriculture?”
Published online at OurWorldinData.org.
Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/env-impacts-of-food’ [Online Resource]
