17 ta’ Settembru 2013 |
Matul ix-xhur sħan sajfin, xarba kiesħa tinżel għasel. Imma x’inhu l-impatt finanzjarju u ambjentali biex jitkessaħ ix-xorb?
Huwa stmat li, madwar l-Ewropa, il-‘fridges’ u l-‘freezers’ kummerċjali jikkunsmaw madwar 85TWh ta’ elettriku fis-sena, daqs kemm jużaw enerġija ’il fuq minn 20 miljun dar.
RapidCool, proġett innovattiv iffinanzjat minn fondi Ewropej għar-riċerka, jgħin inaqqas l-ammont ta’ enerġija li stabbilimenti jużuaw biex ikessħu x-xorb qabel ma jbigħuh, b’hekk ikunu qed inaqqsu l-ispejjeż tagħhom waqt li jgħinu fil-ħarsien tal-ambjent. Grazzi għall-effiċjenza ta’ din it-teknoloġija, ix-xorb li jkun maħżun f’temperatura ambjentali jista’ jitkessaħ f’ħin qasir ħafna bi ftit spejjeż.
Dan l-apparat ikessaħ xorb fil-bottijiet u l-fliexken minn temperatura ambjentali għal 4°C f’45 sekonda. B’hekk ma jkunx hemm għalfejn li l-‘fridges’ jitħaddmu lejl u nhar biex ix-xorb ikun kiesaħ waqt il-ħin tal-ftuħ tal-istabbiliment. Riżultati juru tnaqqis ta’ aktar minn 80% fil-konsum tal-enerġija meta mqabbel ma’ ‘fridges’ miftuħa u ta’ 54% meta mqabbel ma’ ‘fridges’ bil-bibien tal-ħġieġ (iċ-ċifri huma bbażati fuq it-tkessiħ ta’ 200 bott ta’ 500ml kuljum). B’hekk jiġu ffrankati €832 fis-sena għal kull ‘fridge’ miftuħa u €219 fis-sena għal kull ‘fridge’ bil-bibien tal-ħġieġ (bil-prezz tal-elettriku jkun 0.20 euro/kWh)
Il-kumpanija Enviro-Cool (UK) irċeviet €903,000 f’fondi mill-UE biex tkun tista’ tipproduċi ir-RapidCool b’mod kummerċjali.
Michael Jennings, il-kelliem tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea responsabbli għar-riċerka, ix-xjenza, u l-innovazzjoni spjega li, “Dan il-prodott se jgħin lin-negozji jiffrankaw ħafna flus, iħarsu l-ambjent, u joħolqu aktar impiegi. Il-Kummissjoni hija kommessa li tkompli tinvesti aktar flus fi żvilupp ta’ proġetti li jagħmlu differenza fil-ħajja ta’ kulħadd.”
Kelvin Hall, il-fundatur ta’ Enviro-Cool (UK) Limited qal li, “Permezz tal-għajnuna finanzjarja li rċevejna mill-UE, irnexxielna niżviluppaw ir-RapidCool biex b’hekk issa teżisti alternattiva għal apparat għoli u li jaħli ħafna enerġija bħalma huma l-‘fridges’ miftuħa u l-makni li jbiegħu x-xorb. Kburin li, permezz ta’ din it-teknoloġija nadifa, qed nagħtu kontibut ħalli jitnaqqsu l-emissjonijiet globali li jniġġsu l-arja. Issa jmiss li niżviluppaw il-prodott għall-użu kommerċjali u dak domestiku. Kellna reazzjonijiet pożittivi ħafna mis-swieq Asjatiċi u Amerikani, imma rridu nagħmlu lill-manifatturi Ewropej konxji ta’ din it-teknoloġija ġdida.”
Il-kumpaniji msieħba f’dan il-proġett għamlu ftehim formali ma’ żewġ kumpaniji multi-biljunarji globali, waħda minnhom topera fil-qasam tad-distribuzzjoni tax-xorb, waqt li l-oħra tipproduċi tagħmir domestiku li jaħdem bl-elettriku. Dan il-prodott jista’ jintuża fid-djar, fuq il-postijiet tax-xogħol, fil-postijiet ta’ divertiment, u fil-lukandi, biex jitkessaħ ix-xorb, minn bottijet ta’ 150ml sa fliexken ta’ 750ml.
Further Reading
What’s next?
The project partners have entered formal agreements with two global, multi-billion euro companies in the fields of beverage distribution and the production of white goods. Rapidcool engineers have recently created a robotic arm to add to the commercial unit so the taking and delivery of the can are fully automatic. Consumer trials are planned to start in a supermarket in the Netherlands at the end of October. A family of related products are under way which target domestic use as well as commercial/retail applications. These products could potentially be used in the home, the work place, bars, restaurants and hotels to cool a variety of drinks from 150ml canned drinks to 750ml wine bottles.
Video Link: http://www.v-tex-technology.com/#/prototype-videos/4565994654
About the RAPIDCOOL Consortium
The Rapidcool consortium, led by vending machine designer Vending Marketing DOO (Slovenia), is comprised of four other industrial and academic partners: Enviro-Cool (United Kingdom) a company specialised in cooling technology and developer of the V-Tex concept, Dymtec (Spain), an expert in maintenance solutions for industrial refrigeration, Re/genT (Netherlands) a research & development centre specialised in refrigeration, the UK Intelligent Systems Research Institute (United Kingdom).
About European research and innovation funding
In 2014 the European Union will launch a new, seven year research and innovation funding programme called Horizon 2020. Since 2007 the EU has already invested nearly €50 billion in research and innovation projects to support Europe’s economic competitiveness and extend the frontiers of human knowledge. The EU research budget represents around 12 percent of total public spending on research by the EU’s 28 member states and is focused mainly in areas like health, the environment, transport, food and energy. Research partnerships with the pharmaceutical, aerospace, car and electronics industries have also been formed to encourage private sector investment in support of future growth and high skill job creation. Horizon 2020 will have an even greater focus on turning excellent ideas into marketable products, processes and services.
For the latest information on European research and innovation, visit:
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EU Representative Contact: Michael JENNINGS