On 29 January, Danish multinational engineering group, Danfoss, unveiled Asia Pacific’s first Sustainability Technology Center (STC) in Singapore at the Nordic European Center, International Business Park.
Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, the STC is set to become a prime gateway for introducing global decarbonization solutions to bolster the region’s sustainability efforts through technological development and strategic partnerships.
As a hub for competence development, the Center will also help to localize tried and tested solutions Danfoss has to offer to the Asia Pacific region, empowering local partners with the knowledge and skills for effective implementation of sustainable technologies.
With a specialization in Food & Beverage as one of the major industries along with Buildings, Land & Marine Electrification, and Industrial green technologies, the STC will showcase technologies to decarbonize cities and improve energy efficiency across various sectors. These solutions aim to play a pivotal role in Singapore’s roadmap to reach its sustainability commitments made at COP28, as well as its Green Plan 2030 goals. Danfoss’ proprietary district cooling method alone saves up to 50% of energy compared to conventional cooling systems for commercial buildings.
In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Singapore’s 30-by-30 goals, Danfoss looks to safeguard food security and lower energy consumption across Food and Beverage partners across the region with the introduction of its vertical farming and CO2 cold room technologies. Leveraging thermo-physical properties of CO2 and expansion energy ejectors, these technologies help refrigerants scale at greater temperatures, while increasing overall system efficiency.
AFBR has the opportunity to interview Mr Jan Schoemaker, Regional President of Danfoss Asia Pacific to gain more in-depth insights on the STC plan in this region and its contribution towards the F&B industry decarbonisation efforts. The following are excerpts from the interview with him:
How important is the F&B industry to Danfoss STC in terms of future projected contribution to carbon cutting efforts ?
At Danfoss, being part of the solution to build a better future is what our purpose is all about. We are committed to bringing global sustainability solutions to Asia Pacific and supporting international collaborations in the region.
We are seeing food and water scarcity due to climate change. Currently, one third of all food is wasted, and by 2050, the world will need 60% more food. By making agriculture more efficient, we can produce more food using less resources. And by optimizing the cold chain, we can minimize food waste all the way from farm to fork. According to UN statistics, Asia and the Pacific will have nearly 5 billion people by 2050, which means there is an urgent need for investments in sustainable food retail and storage to feed this growing number of people. The pressure is growing, both on energy demand and costs, and on the need to cut down on food loss.
By focusing on energy efficiency, and transitioning to sustainable, low-GWP refrigerants across food production, cold chain technologies and food processing, we can accelerate the industry’s decarbonization journey.
That is our ambition through our Sustainability Technology Center (STC). Our STC showcases live technologies aimed at addressing these challenges. Through partnerships with organizations, we are dedicated to deliver robust solutions to accelerate decarbonization within the food industry.
In this region, which F&B sectors will be STC’s main targets for development and expansion?
Cold chain remains to be the top priority for the F&B industry in terms of carbon cutting goals in the region. Some of the cold chain technologies including those required for food production (Vertical Farming), supermarkets (Retailing) and cold storage (CO2 Cold Room), are already being demonstrated in the STC. While Vertical Farming is relatively new to Asia Pacific, adopting sustainable refrigeration cooling solutions and variable speed drives into cold storage in supermarkets and food retail applications are low hanging fruits that can be implemented immediately.
Over the past 10 years, the market penetration of many low-GWP refrigerants has significantly increased. Good examples are CO2 applications for commercial refrigeration, especially supermarkets in Europe. In June 2023, we opened a new “Smart Store” in Nordborg, Denmark, a supermarket that is expected to be approximately 50% more energy efficient than typical supermarkets with a first- generation CO2 refrigeration system. We believe that this trend, which started in Europe, will extend to many other regions in the world, and has, in fact, already started to move to North America, Japan and Australia. Spurred on by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and dedicated legislation, the demand for low- GWP refrigerants will continue to increase and drive innovations in system design.
The new Danfoss STC in Singapore will focus on which countries in this region?
The STC is centrally located in Singapore and easily accessible for partners, customers, consultants, authorities, associations and our colleagues from the whole Asia Pacific region with the aim to accelerate decarbonization through technology and partnerships. We welcome all kinds of collaboration as we see this region portrays a boast of abundant resources while industries are experiencing rapid growth. The escalating demand for increased productivity and growth underscore a pressing need for green solutions to decarbonize businesses everywhere.
In summary, what are the 3 major goals of STC when related to the F&B sector?
The Danfoss STC will function as a hub for competence development and skills enhancement in sustainability solutions. Our CO2 Cold Room and Vertical Farming solutions were developed together with OEMs and system integrators, aiming to help train the industry, while building substantial knowledge and competence to develop customized solution for food production, processing, retail and cold storage in alleviating food and water supply shortages. To further drive change, we will work with regulators and global OEMs to help them understand the technology by providing CO2 refrigeration systems stress-tests in our STC, in order to develop industry best practices and standards.
We are helping the F&B industry to develop their business with reliable refrigeration systems. By focusing on energy efficiency and transitioning to sustainable, low GWP refrigerants across food production and supermarkets, we are making a positive impact on our customers’ carbon footprint. Innovation and technology leadership are core parts of the Danfoss DNA. From design to implementation and maintenance of complete CO2 cooling systems, we are here to accelerate the industry’s decarbonization journey.
To meet the demand from growing populations, new ways of producing food are needed. By moving food production into the city with vertical farming, it allows production of fruits and vegetables indoors and on vertical stacked layers. Although 40% of the energy consumption in a vertical farm comes from HVAC – heating and ventilation, we have the technology to help cut energy use by up to 30%, from light and temperature control to water circulation for irrigation.
For more information, click on: Danfoss Malaysia Sdn Bhd
