If you or an older relative still refers to the refrigerator an “icebox,” that is cause it was not that long ago when ice was the best option for cooling and preserving food. Modern refrigerators have replaced the messy old iceboxes, with a couple tradeoffs: the food we eat often has enough preservatives to preserve us; and those refrigerators are energy hogs. Even before those appliances reach showrooms, the manufacturing process sends quite a few emissions into the atmosphere, too.
Refrigeration manufacturing technology, however, keeps improving, and General Electric has found a new material that drastically reduces CO2 emissions. The company’s switch is the equivalent to the annual reduction of 78,000 cars from American roads. Employees at GE’s branch that builds refrigerators, GE Appliances & Lighting, recently discovered that a new compound or hydrocarbon,
cyclopentane, can slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The switch will reduce emissions at the Decatur, Alabama plant by 80%.
The lesson of GE’s transition is that
energy efficiency about more than the actual products that consumers choose to purchase. Revamping the manufacturing process and a thorough examination of the company’s
supply chain may not generate a “wow” reaction, but are arguably even more important.
Read the entire article on
Triple Pundit.
