Techonomy Climate 2022: Manik Suri on Why a Smart Cold Chain is Vital for a Warming Planet
MARCH 2022—The Techonomy Climate: Tech Confronts the Crisis in-person event in Silicon Valley brought together climate experts, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and other big names to discuss the role of technology in the climate crisis.
GlacierGrid’s CEO and founder Manik Suri talked about the cold chain and the cooling crisis, specifically in the context of food and pharmaceuticals which are our most important cold chains. Here are some of the main highlights of his discussion.
The cold chain is booming, but it’s nowhere near where it’s supposed to be
Online deliveries and eCommerce growth have resulted in an increase in the need for cold storage in the food industry. COVID-19 and other perishable drugs are also sensitive, and require a quality cold chain. For example, 25% of vaccines are lost in transit. Around 3 billion people were estimated not to receive their COVID-19 vaccines because they have no access to the cold chain.
There is also a huge amount of food spoilage and loss across the cold supply chain. Billions of dollars worth of inventory are wasted and lost every year.
The cold chain is responsible for the world heating up
As the cold chain keeps growing, it’s causing warming. In total, it is responsible for almost 10% of global CO2 emissions when combined with product wasted, energy consumed, and refrigents—the ultra-warming chemicals that go into the cooling effect.
As a result, the environment suffers, businesses suffer financially due to losses, and millions of people have no access to food and pharmaceuticals due to the lack of a better supply chain.
Building the world’s first smart cold chain
Manik introduces GlacierGrid and how they are enabling continuous monitoring by IoT sensors that deliver real-time data to prevent product losses and asset failures. This also involves AI-enabled optimization and the long-term goal of creating a distributed network of millions of batteries.
Ultimately, the future looks bright as GlacierGrid continues to work towards a smart cold chain. For the full details of Manik’s discussion, you can watch the full video here:
