THE COLD FACTS BEHIND INDIAS FOOD CRISIS : India Inc. Interview

Toby Peters is the chief executive of UK-based Dearman, a company which harnesses liquid air to deliver zero-emission power and cooling to create global cold food chains. The firm is working on developing cutting-edge technologies to achieve movement of perishable produce through an integrated chain of refrigerated transport and refrigerated storage, broadly referred to as an integrated cold chain.

Peters, also Visiting Professor in Power and Cold Economy within the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham, speaks to India Inc. about a connect with the Make In India initiative of the Indian government and the company's plans to help India plug its integrated cold chain gaps to ensure access to food and medicines for all.What is the challenge facing India in terms of cold chain India, faces a number of simultaneous challenges that highlight the need to develop a genuinely integrated cold chain.India's economy is growing fast, with Fitch estimating that GDP will increase by 7.8 per cent this year, and with growth comes changing demographics. In the decade from 2020 to 2030, 275 million Indians are expected to join the middle class - which at 475 million will be larger than the combined populations of the US, Japan and the UK. This will prompt the rise of a huge consumer economy and growing demand for food such as meat and dairy, which needs to be kept cold.India also has a far more fundamental need - to feed its population. India is already home to more than 25 per cent of the world's hungry poor, with 43 per cent of children under five considered undernourished. There are further pressures on the food system, as based upon current trends, it's estimated that India will only be able to produce 59 per cent of the total food it requires by 2030.To date growing demand for food has largely been met by increasing agricultural yields. India's green revolution is respected around the world. But while millions of dollars continues to be invested into producing more food, up to 40 per cent of the food that is already produced in India, and other emerging economies, is lost before it ever reaches the consumer.One of the primary causes of this vast waste of food is the lack of a joined up cold chain that enables food to be harvested and transported in good condition. Not only does this food loss lead to potential shortages, but it also has a significant negative impact upon the consumer prices and on the return that rural communities can achieve for the food they produce.Is the crisis limited to access to food The problem isn't limited to food. India is the world's third largest producer of pharmaceuticals, but it doesn't have the network required to distribute these vital medical products around the country. As a result, it is estimated almost 20 per cent of temperature sensitive healthcare products arrive damaged or degraded - including 25 per cent of vaccines.Establishing a joined up cold chain would help to address the challenge of growing demand, while enabling rural communities to sell more of their produce at market and thereby aiding economic development.The Indian government has recognised the challenge and that it must invest heavily in new cold chain infrastructure. But the question is - what kind of cold chain will be built At present, India has approximately 31 million tonnes of cold chain capacity, which is vast, but only approximately 9,000 refrigerated vehicles. By comparison, France has only 5million tonnes of cold storage capacity, but has 140,000 refrigerated vehicles.That imbalance has to be rectified because when looking to feed a population, to maximise the economic return for producers and to supply vital medicines, the objective is to move goods efficiently from production to consumer, and that requires a network of vehicles.What is the scale of the demand in India Pawanexh Kohli, chief advisor to the National Centre for Cold Chain Development, has suggested that to make proper use of the cold chain infrastructure already available in India, an additional 60,000 refrigerated trucks are needed immediately, just to transport food from the field to the major cities. Factoring in projected growth in Indian cold infrastructure in the years to come and continued growth in demand, the need for new refrigerated vehicles could be much higher.This introduces a final problem. The established model of cold chain development is to create uncoordinated fossil fuelled infrastructure, which solves the problem of food and medicine distribution, but adds significantly to problems of urban air quality and climate change.As an example, transport refrigeration units, which keep refrigerated trucks cold rely on diesel and are highly polluting. One small diesel powered auxiliary transport refrigeration unit can produce the same amount of dangerous particulate pollution as 29 large modern diesel trucks.If India meets its booming demand for cold using old-fashioned diesel powered technology such as this, then a societal challenge could ultimately be replaced with an environmental catastrophe.There is a very real opportunity, however, to apply a new more coordinated approach which recognises the overarching challenge of delivering a 'clean cold chain' and begins to address it using the sustainable technologies of the future rather than the polluting ones of the past.Where does Make in India fit in with this mission Dearman is a British company, but one of our founding values is that we want to transfer advanced technology and skills to emerging economies. In time we expect to roll out our clean cold technology to India, where there is undoubted demand. As we do so there will be economic opportunities created in manufacturing, in the supply chain and in after care services.In particular, Dearman is working with institutions in the UK, including the newly announced Energy Research Accelerator, to not only develop new technologies but to establish a blueprint for manufacturing facilities which can then be established around the world. We are very hopeful that with need for clean cold technologies in India, that there will be significant demand for Dearman products and therefore it will be possible to work with local partners and suppliers to establish a world class manufacturing base in the country.Is there an understanding of the scale of the problem in India Yes, the challenge is huge, something which the Indian Government and the National Centre for Cold Chain Development in particular has recognised.There has already been significant progress made in delivering new cold storage capacity, but unfortunately this hasn't yet translated into the development of a fully integrated - farm to fork - cold chain.Dearman research has suggested that the number of refrigerated trucks India needs could actually be around 200,000 new vehicles required by 2020.However, at the same time, 600,000 people die each year in India because of poor air quality. There is no room to accommodate increased pollution in order to deliver the advanced cold chain that is so urgently needed. Yet, 60,000 new transport refrigeration units on India's roads would emit the same amount of dangerous particulate matter as up to 1.7 million modern diesel trucks.Therefore, the real challenge that India faces isn't how can it introduce an integrated cold chain - it's how can it introduce an integrated 'clean cold chain'.With the work that Dearman is undertaking, amongst others, there are new clean cold technologies emerging, which are as economically attractive, as they are environmentally sustainable. So while there is a lot to be done, at least the tools are beginning to emerge which will enable the challenge to be met.What are some of Dearman's success stories around the world Dearman is a very young company - we were only founded just over three years ago. But in that time, we have achieved a lot. The most significant global achievement has been to gain recognition for the need to deliver 'clean cold'.Cold has always been the Cinderella of the global energy debate, meaning that governments and companies have overlooked the need to deliver new cold infrastructure and the impact that this growth in cooling will have on the environment.But, working with forward thinking organisations like the Indian National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD), Dearman has been able to get cold onto the debating table and has highlighted the need to 'do cold smarter'.Governments, NGOs and companies are now beginning to think about the impact cooling has on our lives, how demand will increase in the coming decades and how we can meet that demand without creating negative unintended consequences.From a technology perspective, Dearman has also made rapid progress in the development of its unique liquid air powered clean cold technologies. The first application of which, a zero emission transport refrigeration system, is already undergoing on vehicle trials in the UK. Later this year we will begin our first commercial field trials and we will begin international field trials next year.Simultaneously, we are developing additional applications of this technology, which will provide clean and cost effective cold and power for transport, buildings and a range of industries. These will come to market in the years ahead.Can a country like India take the lead in addressing the global food crisis Yes, absolutely - in fact it must. India is a world-leading producer of food, especially dairy products and fruit and vegetables. It has also provided a blue print for increasing agricultural yields that so many countries around the world have followed.But if it is going to address the challenges of the 21st century then it has to lead the world in addressing post-harvest food loss. It cannot be economically or environmentally sustainable to allow up to 40 per cent of food to be lost between harvest and the plate. India must address the problem and that will rely on the creation of a fully integrated cold chain.With the support of the NCCD I have no doubt that India will achieve its goals - but the question is whether it can be done sustainably. Can India leapfrog the diesel powered, polluting infrastructure of the past and lead the world in a clean cold revolution I believe that it can!What are some of Dearman's plans for the Indian market Dearman's zero-emission technology has global potential. But India is a particularly important market for us because it is already experiencing a cold chain boom - the sector is growing by 25 per cent per year - significantly faster than the rest of the world.If this cold chain is going to be integrated, then alongside new cold storage, the country desperately needs new refrigerated transport. Dearman can make that transportation as resource efficient as possible, helping to conserve diesel and more importantly helping to prevent negative, unintended environmental consequences.We hope to have a field trial of our zero emission transport refrigeration system in India next year, leading to an ever greater presence in the Indian market thereafter.Ultimately, Dearman technology could have a significant impact, enabling new cold chain infrastructure to leapfrog the polluting diesel technologies that persist in the UK and facilitating a rapid transition to the clean cold technologies of the future.