SalatMestern works to develop its own climate accounts, which show both status and development. This will be available in the autumn of 2021, and preliminary calculations that are now quality assured, show clear improvements in recent years.
– The climate issue is of course important to us, “says general manager Thomas Andersen. One can not be a serious company without doing its part to reduce the climate imprint of one’s own business. This requires long-term and focused work in a number of areas, something we are well underway with.
In addition to CO₂, the greenhouse gases to be reduced are any emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and F-gases. For a company like SalatMestern, direct emissions of CO₂ from the consumption of fossil fuels to heating, production and transport are important. There are also indirect emissions that are to be reduced by CO₂, methane and nitrous oxide from waste. This is waste that the company creates, but where the emissions only take place when the waste is destroyed at an approved facility elsewhere.
In addition, some companies, including SalatMestern, emit F-gases, which are extremely powerful greenhouse gases and where every kilo can mean a lot.
Great effect of dropping heating oil
In 2017, SalatMestern took the first major step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Then it was decided to cut out heating oil used for heating. This measure alone reduced CO₂ emissions by more than 30 %.
– Of course, we had to stop using heating oil, says Andersen. Now we only heat with electricity, and it works perfectly well.
Next up: Refrigerants
SalatMestern has for many years used various F-gases, so-called HFC gases (Hydro-Fluoron-Carbon gases). These were once introduced as refrigerants, as they replaced the so-called freon that were so harmful to the ozone layer. What was not known at the time was that these gases would turn out to be extremely powerful greenhouse gases. The problem is that over time these leak out of refrigeration systems and reach the atmosphere despite the fact that active work is being done to collect such gases and have tight systems.
SalatMestern has a large cold store that until 2021 used types of HFC gases. This was replaced by a CO₂ plant in the winter of 2021. CO₂ is considered the most climate-friendly substitute for HFC gases. It may seem strange considering that CO₂ is a greenhouse gas. We must remember that CO₂ is a completely natural gas that we exhale and that plants also produce. Emissions from refrigeration systems become so vanishingly small compared to all other human sources, and therefore this is a favorable solution for such systems.
– It was incredibly good to rebuild into a new environmentally friendly cold storage room, says Andersen. Now we can get rid of a bad conscience for having climate-damaging refrigerants. We show that we take the climate issue seriously, and are willing to make financial investments to contribute.
The next step is a reduction in electricity consumption
The next step for SalatMestern is to reduce the actual electricity consumption. The biggest move has already been made. It made a large investment in photovoltaic systems on both the roof and facade. The solar cell plant is probably the largest in Fredrikstad as of today
> -See solar cell system at Salatmesteren
In the coming years, SalatMestern will continue to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the company has a goal of reducing these further even if production increases year by year. SalatMestern wants to become a climate-neutral company.