Refrigerated Transport: State of the Art, Technical Issues, Innovations and Challenges for Sustainability

Angelo Maiorino, Fabio Petruzziello and Ciro Aprea
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Angelo Maiorino: Department of Industrial Engineering, Università di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
Fabio Petruzziello: Department of Industrial Engineering, Università di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy
Ciro Aprea: Department of Industrial Engineering, Università di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-55

Abstract: The cold chain is responsible for perishable products preservation and transportation, maintaining a proper temperature to slow biological decay processes. Often the efficiency of the cold chain is less than ideal, significantly increasing food waste and energy consumption. Refrigerated transport is a critical phase of the cold chain because of its negative impact on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that around 15% of global fossil fuel energy is used in the refrigerated transport sector, so there has been a growing interest in the last decades in the optimization of these systems in order to reduce their environmental impact. Vapor compression refrigeration units, usually powered by means of a diesel engine, are the most commonly used systems in road refrigerated transport. This paper provides a review of (a) currently used systems and alternative technologies that could reduce the environmental impacts of road refrigerated transport and (b) optimization models and methods used to minimize fuel/energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, focusing both on reducing the thermal loads and solving the refrigerated vehicle routing problem.

Keywords: refrigerated transport; environmental impact; refrigeration; renewable energies; sustainability; carbon dioxide; cold chain; vaccine; PCM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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