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 ...Read More
COP President Alok Sharma visits a unique Centre in Africa dedicated to supporting sustainable cooling
COP President, the Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, visited the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) during his attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda this week. Currently 7% of the world’s emissions come from cooling – from food and vaccine cold-chains to air conditioning to high-tech innovation – and demand for cooling will only grow as global temperatures increase. ACES is a first-of-kind Centre dedicated to generating ...Read More
Sustainable Cooling Experts Gather in Washington for Global Food Loss Summit
Sustainable food, cooling and cold-chain experts from around the globe are gathering in Washington DC to create a blueprint for rolling out affordable solutions to help African food producers reduce waste and reduce their carbon footprint. The Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain Summit will take place in the United States on 15 March to identify partnership and investment opportunities to scale up the impact of existing initiatives across Africa. The Summit ...Read More
New Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain in India Kick-starts Sustainable Cooling Journey
A new Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain in Telangana State, India will create a ‘hot spot’ for sustainable cooling innovation to accelerate the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across the country. The Centre will conduct state-of-the-art applied research in food and vaccine distribution, supporting the roll-out of affordable, energy resilient, low emission cold-chain systems in India. Connecting British and Indian experts ...Read More
A New Opportunity for Rwandans to Affordably Purchase Appliances that can Reduce Electricity Bills and Impacts on the Environment
Today, Rwanda’s Ministry of Environment through the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) launched the Rwanda Cooling Initiative’s Green On-Wage (R-COOL GO) financing mechanism – through which environmentally friendly refrigerators and air conditioners will be more widely accessible and affordable in Rwanda. Eligible salaried employees from the public and private sectors may request loans from participating banks to purchase new cooling appliances that meet strict performance ...Read More
Further funding speeds reach of Africa’s sustainable cooling and cold chain centre
Hosted by the University of Rwanda at its Kigali campus, the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES) is set to scale-up its work and develop a pan-continental network of outreach centres – thanks to a further $3.3 million (£2.5 million) funding boost from the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). Dr Jeanne d’ Arc Mujawamariya, Minister of Environment, Government of Rwanda, said, “The immense benefit of this financial ...Read More
Global summit progresses clean cold refrigeration drive to support Africa’s farmers
On 19 October 2021, cold chain experts conducted a virtual summit for African policymakers and business leaders to explore sustainable solutions to help keep farmers’ produce fresh and get it to market quickly and efficiently – reducing food waste, boosting profits and creating jobs. The online event on Accelerating Sustainable Cold Chain in Africa highlighted the latest developments of the African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES). In addition to helping ...Read More
Africa’s Sustainable Cooling Centre Gets Multi-million Funding Boost
The new Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES) has taken a major step forward in Rwanda with a $3.5 (£2.4 million) million funding boost. The UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) earmarked this contribution for the Centre’s design and technology kit-out, supporting the work of British universities (Birmingham, Heriot-Watt, Cranfield, London South Bank), the University of Rwanda and its hiring of the first-ACES ...Read More
REMA and UNEP U4E Launch Efficient Cooling Awareness Campaign
The Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) today launched a campaign to raise awareness of why, and how, to opt for refrigerators and air conditioners that save energy and money, rather than inefficient cooling solutions. The campaign, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme’s United for Efficiency team, is part of the Rwanda Cooling Initiative (R-COOL). R-COOL developed, and is now implementing, a National Cooling Strategy (NCS) on how to cost effectively switch ...Read More
Africa’s Clean Cooling Centre of Excellence Moves Closer to Boosting Farmer’s Livelihoods
The Rwandan Government has formally launched the new African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain (ACES) that is hosted in-country by the University of Rwanda. At the inception meeting, a high-level cross-department team was established to lead the Centre’s development. In collaboration with the core technical partners - the University of Birmingham and UN Environment Programme’s United for Efficiency (UNEP U4E) - progress in setting up the centre has quickened with the ...Read More
