Supermarket fridge doors could save 1 per cent UK electricity use
Putting doors on fridges in the top five supermarkets in the UK could cut the nation’s total electricity usage by 1 per cent, according to reports.
The Environmental Investigation Agency, an international NGO, said supermarkets could save up to a third on their own electricity bills too, according to the BBC which first reported the news.
One supermarket has already pledged to put fridges doors in all of its new UK stores, a move which will save the equivalent of over 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
With 100 new stores planned, Aldi’s decision to add doors to fridges will mean each store will save 20 tonnes of carbon per year and reduce energy consumption by 20 per cent per store.
“Our stores already use 100 per cent renewable electricity,” said Mary Dunn, director of corporate responsibility at Aldi UK.
“Our new stores also utilise natural refrigerants and feature efficient LED lighting,” she added.
A ban on open fridges and freezers in shops was considered, and rejected, by the government in 2019.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, in a statement at the time, that it encouraged retailers to use more energy-efficient technology but that it was already “looking at various ways to encourage greater energy efficiency in commercial refrigeration.”
The news follows a separate commitment made by the five biggest supermarkets to cut in half the weekly impact of a weekly food shop by 2030, announced yesterday.
Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Co-op, and M&S all pledged to reduce carbon emissions, deforestation, food waste and packaging they produce.
The supermarkets committed to work with environmental organisation WWF to halve the amount of global warming that shopping baskets cause, halve the forests that are cut down to fill the baskets, and halve the impact of the agriculture and seafood.