Towards sustainability of road refrigerated transport in the food chain

The global road transport refrigeration fleet serving the food chain isestimated in 3.4 million vehicles; the sector is constantly growing andnew habits, like online shopping and consequent short distance delivery,are spreading. The emissions of the sector were estimated in about 50 MtCO2eq in 2021, being the largest part due to diesel motors. It iscommonly agreed that around 20\% of the vehicle emissions are to beascribed to the refrigeration unit consumption. However, the entiretraction sector is facing new challenges to meet environmental targets.At the same time, working fluids for vapour compression cycles areundergoing a tough revision process, which mainly targets GHG emissionsreduction but at the same time concerns related to other environmentalimpacts on human health and ecosystems are gaining attention. In thispaper, technological solutions to reduce the overall environmentalimpact of road refrigeration transport are considered and exemplified.