Experts leading research into sustainable cooling have received a £9.5 million boost that secures work at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) until 2025.
Next phase funding from the UK Government will support further recruitment of lecturers, technicians and research associates on the ACES campus in Kigali, Rwanda. It also will fund additional equipment to help further explore clean cold-chains for food and health.
The DEFRA funding backs development of early-stage researcher and supervised PhD research programmes. It also supports the roll-out of further Specialized Outreach and Knowledge Establishment (SPOKE) hubs to share knowledge, technology demonstration and capacity building into other African markets – building on the first SPOKE being developed in Kenya.
Project lead Professor Toby Peters, Director, Centre for Sustainable Cooling at the University of Birmingham, commented: “Our work enables Africa’s communities to discover and unlock their economic potential and build cold-chain services for resilient and sustainable development.
“ACES can help to ensure that fresh produce reaches domestic and international consumers in its best condition, while reducing emissions, preserving natural resources and increasing farmers’ income. Also, energy-efficient and sustainable cold logistics will help to reduce vaccine waste – this is important for traditional vaccines and health needs, but vital as we look to deploy new mRNA vaccines requiring sub-zero and potentially ultra-cold cold-chains.”
Working with its partners, ACES programmes delivered through the SPOKEs will:
Photo: Sam Peters Photography
- Enable communities to build key cold-chain and cooling services using novel technologies; and
- Support development of a strong network of skilled refrigeration engineers – supporting the transition to climate-friendly refrigerants.