Energy consumption and conservation in food retailing

Abstract The total annual CO2 emissions associated with the energy consumption of the major retail food outlets in the UK amount to around 4.0 MtCO2. The energy consumption and emissions from supermarkets varies widely and can depend on many factors such as the type and size of the store, business and merchandising practices and refrigeration and environmental control systems used. This paper provides energy consumption data of a sample of 2570 retail food stores from a number of major retail food chains in the UK. The sample covers all major store categories from convenience stores to hypermarkets and includes approximately 30% of the total number of stores in the UK having a net sales area more than 280 m2. The data show a wide variability of energy intensity even within stores of the same retail chain. A power law can be used to describe the variation of the average electrical energy intensity of the stores in the sample with sales area. If the electrical intensity of the stores above the average is reduced to the average by energy conservation measures, annual energy savings of the order of 10% or 840 GWh can be achieved representing 355,000 tonnes annual reduction in CO2 emissions. The paper also discusses the major energy consuming processes in retail food stores and identifies opportunities for energy savings.