Browsing by Author "Evans, Judith"

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    Reducing food loss and waste contributes to energy, economic and environmental sustainability
    (Elsevier, 2024-04-09) Gage, Ewan; Wang, Xinfang; Xu, Bing; Foster, Alan; Evans, Judith; Terry, Leon A.; Falagán, Natalia
    Food loss and waste (FLW) reduction presents a major opportunity for enhancing the sustainability and resilience of the food supply chain. However, the lack of evidence regarding the scale and origins of FLW hinder determination of its environmental impact and prioritisation of mitigation action. We herein conducted a study to quantify FLW in the UK horticulture supply chain, and estimate its environmental impact as assessed through CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions. Through a metanalysis of existing literature supplemented with stakeholder engagement, we estimated that 2.4 Mt of fresh produce FLW is generated annually between farm gate and retail for home-grown and imported produce, representing 36% of total supply. FLW was perceived as an inevitable economic risk rather than a sustainability issue, driven by economic factors (e.g. labour shortage, price protectionism). The lack of economic incentives for FLW recovery (e.g. alternative processing) further compound FLW. Our results reveal that FLW contributes 1.7 Mt CO2e annually, constituting 27.2% of the total emissions of the fresh produce supply chain. Resource-intensive production, prolonged storage and complex handling needs generates substantial energy demand and concordant environmental impacts. The current over-reliance on cold chain management should be re-examined to disentangle the FLW-energy-environment nexus, especially given that the effects of global warming on the horticulture supply chain has yet to be examined. To effectively mitigate FLW, a holistic approach is imperative, encompassing policy and consumer-level changes alongside development of novel postharvest management strategies.
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    Refrigerated warehouses as intelligent hubs to integrate renewable energy in industrial food refrigeration and to enhance power grid sustainability
    (Elsevier, 2016-11-23) Fikin, Kostadin; Stankov, Borislav; Evans, Judith; Maidment, Graeme; Foster, Alan; Brown, Tim; Radcliffe, Jonathan; Youbi-Idrissi, Mohammed; Alford, Adrian; Varga, Liz; Alvarez, Graciela; Ivanov, Ivan Evg.; Bond, Carole; Colombo, Ina; Garcia-Naveda, Gabriel; Ivanov, Ivaylo; Hattori, Kazuhiro; Umeki, Daisuke; Bojkov, Tsvetan; Kaloyanov, Nikola
    Background Independence from fossil fuels, energy diversification, decarbonisation and energy efficiency are key prerequisites to make a national, regional or continental economy competitive in the global marketplace. As Europe is about to generate 20% of its energy demand from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by 2020, adequate RES integration and renewable energy storage throughout the entire food cold chain must properly be addressed. Scope and approach Refrigerated warehouses for chilled and frozen foods are large energy consumers and account for a significant portion of the global energy demand. Nevertheless, the opportunity for RES integration in the energy supply of large food storage facilities is often neglected. In situ power generation using RES permits capture of a large portion of virtually free energy, thereby reducing dramatically the running costs and carbon footprint, while enhancing the economic competitiveness. In that context, there exist promising engineering solutions to exploit various renewables in the food preservation sector, in combination with the emerging sustainability-enhancing technology of Cryogenic Energy Storage (CES). Key findings and conclusions Substantial research endeavours are driven by the noble objective to turn the Europe's Energy Union into the world's number one in renewable energies. Integrating RES, in synchrony with CES development and proper control, is capable of both strengthening the food refrigeration sector and improving dramatically the power grid balance and energy system sustainability. Hence, this article aims to familiarise stakeholders of the European and global food preservation industry with state-of-the-art knowledge, know-how, opportunities and professional achievements in the concerned field.