Aldi Süd expects serial CO₂ systems in two years

Within the next two years, Aldi Süd is likely to have finalized all develoments of CO₂ (R744) supermarket refrigeration systems to go into serial production. The company has achieved major progress since tests started in 2006, showing that CO₂ systems are operating reliably without any remarkable incident up to now. More importantly, the 13 installations currently used throughout Germany have been proven to be highly energy efficient at cold to warm ambient temperatures. As a result, cooling R744 down to the required low temperatures within the closed refrigeration cycle requires up to 6% less electricity than conventional installations, as Aldi’s constant monitoring proofs.

Using CO₂ is a “zero-sum game”, technical adviser Thomas Bader, responsible for monitoring and evaluating its energy performance in the 13 stores, told leading German media. Based on a conservative average refrigerant leakage rate of 1-4% from the refrigeration system, only 3.2 kg of CO₂ is thus released to the atmosphere where it was originally taken from. By contrast, R404a - the refrigerant of choice in current installations - adds 10,432 kg of CO₂ equivalents to the atmosphere. An average car would need 68,851 kilometres to emit the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

Potential of CO₂ still not exploited

“The 6% energy savings are not yet the end of the road,” predicts Bader who estimates CO₂ to still have more potential that needs to be fully exploited. Based on the positive testing results, Aldi Süd now plans to commission five more installations in the near future. As a general objective, the retailer will actively promote the development of R744 systems to lower initial costs and further enhance their performance.

Aldi Süd sees the use CO₂  as the kick-off for an accelerated phase out of HFCs. Long before an EU deadline bans high global warming HFCs in 2017, Aldi Süd will have complied with the legislation by only using R744 installation, Bader predicts.

Aldi UK refuses to disclose details on natural refrigerants

The CO₂ announcement comes right after a survey by the non-governmental group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) had ranked Aldi among the worst performers in terms of energy efficient refrigeration and the use of natural refrigerants in the UK. The only point out of 100 possible ones was given for Aldi’s work on natural refrigerants in Germany. The retailer had refused to participate in the survey and had not added any reference to climate-friendly refrigerants in its CSR report.