Policy Connect Industrial Cooling
Our chairman Bob Long was invited to take part in a Policy Connect (cross-party think tank) round table as a panellist on the topic of industrial cooling at the House of Lords this week.
Policy Connect is partnering with Innovate UK Business Connect to bring together academia, industry, and Parliament to explore the topic of industrial cooling.
As temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change, so too does the demand for cooling and refrigeration. Industries such as food and drink, ceramics, chemicals, metals, and medicines rely on cold chain systems both within the manufacturing process and also for temperature-controlled storage and transportation. These cooling processes have become increasingly expensive to buy and operate – eating into bottom lines and diverting resources from elsewhere.
In 2023, Innovate UK established a working group, tasked with exploring the technical, social, regulatory, economic, and environmental challenges associated with the adoption of cooling solutions. The subsequent report identified finance, skills, and regulation/compliance as the three main challenges for the sector and made several recommendations to address these.
This week’s roundtable, chaired by the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee Chair Bill Esterson MP, addressed the findings and recommendations from the Innovate UK Business Connect Report and discussed policy changes to overcome these challenges.
Bob explained how our revolutionary EnergiVault® cold thermal energy storage technology can help industrial refrigeration on its journey to net zero, reducing energy, carbon and adding resilience. He also emphasised the importance of cold energy storage alongside electrical batteries.
Other panellists included:
- Jenni McDonnell MBE, Innovate UK Business Connect
- Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, CBE, DL, Cross Bench Peer in the House of Lords, and Founder and Chair of Cobra Beer
- Professor Judith Evans, London Southbank University
- Dr Rob Lamb, Star Refrigeration
- Tom Southall, Cold Chain Federation
Policy Connect specialises in supporting parliamentary groups, forums and commissions, delivering impactful policy research and event programmes and bringing together parliamentarians and government in collaboration with academia, business and civil society to help shape public policy in Westminster and Whitehall, so as to improve people’s lives.
