News
Cold storage industry meets climate change target
Businesses participating in the Government’s Climate Change Agreement (CCA) for cold stores achieved a collective improvement of 6.735% in energy efficiency, surpassing the target of 6.67% against a 2018 benchmark.
The CCA scheme operates across multiple industries, offering tax benefits to businesses which sign up to energy efficiency targets, with the CCF managing the cold storage CCA.
Cold Chain Federation executive director Tom Southall said: “Energy efficiency is a very high priority for cold storage facilities of all sizes, and the industry’s success in meeting this very challenging CCA target reflects strong focus and significant investment.
Hard won gains
“For many temperature-controlled warehouse operations, the most straightforward energy efficiency measures have already been implemented so energy efficiency gains are now harder won.
“But the rewards are very significant both in Climate Change Levy savings and also in reducing sky-high energy bills. Securing the extension of the scheme this year was important for our industry, it will help us keep momentum towards net zero while also providing tax savings of more than £10m every year.”
The next CCA target for cold stores is to build on the 6.7% energy efficiency improvement achieved to reach 10% improvement against the same 2018 baseline by the end of 2024.
Predicted changes to the scheme
There may be a number of changes to the scheme during 2024: Climate Change Levy reduction rates are due to change on 1st April 2024, and other proposed changes include an increased buyout price (rising from £18 to £25/tC02e), and the possibility of new reporting requirements on energy efficiency measures installed and decarbonisation potential.
Southall added: “Meeting the next target by the end of 2024 will be just as challenging, Cold Chain Federation members can draw on the support we offer.
“We will also be launching a new Cold Store Energy Benchmarking Dashboard in November, a new tool to help our members to better assess energy performance of their facilities and identify the best opportunities to make improvements.”
Meanwhile, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has published new research which displays the lack of action taken by food and agriculture firms to tackle deforestation.
