Policy Connect is partnering with Innovate UK Business Connect to bring together academia, industry, and Parliament to explore the topic of industrial cooling.

As temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change, so does the demand for cooling and refrigeration. Industries such as food & drink, ceramics, chemicals, metals, and medicines rely on cold chain systems both within the manufacturing process and also for temperature-controlled storage and transportation. These cooling processes have become increasingly expensive to buy and operate - eating into bottom lines and diverting resources from elsewhere.

In 2023, Innovate UK established a working group, tasked with exploring the technical, social, regulatory, economic, and environmental challenges associated with the adoption of cooling solutions. The subsequent report identified finance, skills, and regulation/compliance as the three main challenges for the sector and made several recommendations to address these.

This roundtable, chaired by the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee Chair Bill Esterson MP, will address the findings and recommendations from the Innovate UK Business Connect Report and discuss policy changes to overcome these challenges. 

Panellists: 

• Jenni McDonnell MBE, Innovate UK Business Connect
• Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, CBE, DL, Cross Bench Peer in the House of Lords, and Founder and Chair of Cobra Beer
• Professor Judith Evans, London Southbank University
• Dr Rob Lamb, Star Refrigeration 
• Bob Long, Organic Heat Exchangers
• Tom Southall, Cold Chain Federation

For more information about the event, please contact communications [at] policyconnect.org.uk (Communications[at]policyconnect[dot]org[dot]uk)