Tesco makes Ireland greener with CO₂ "eco store"

Tesco Ireland has unveiled the country’s first “eco store”. Using a CO₂ refrigeration system and other energy-efficient initiatives, it will consume 45% less energy than comparable stores and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 420 tonnes every year.

Alone the CO₂ refrigeration system used for all fridges and freezers in Tesco’s new Tramore “eco store” will be using 15% less energy than a conventional system. In addition, a combined heat and power unit that generates electricity and then uses the excess energy to heat the store, will be used to also provide chilled water in the summer months. Other eco innovations include a cold air recycling system taking cold air from chilled areas to warmer areas, which Tesco says reduces the store’s need for air-conditioning. The building structure is supported by a wooden frame with timber harvested from sustainable forests. Skylights increasing the level of natural light entering the store, and solar panels round up the series of eco innovations used.

The Tramore store, to open for the public tomorrow, is Ireland’s first supermarket designed according to the internationally recognised “Passiv Haus” (passive house) standard. Also featuring highest levels of insulation in the building, the 30,000 sq ft store will use 45% less energy than a regular supermarket of similar size and will reduce its carbon footprint by one third annually. All together, it will effectively save 420 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Tesco will take the Tramore store as a blueprint for its next sustainable projects.

"Business has a responsibility to give a lead through its own behaviour - and businesses like ours have a particular responsibility. This is not just about short term environment-friendly initiatives, [...] but about transforming our business model so that the reduction of our carbon footprint becomes a central driver of our business and not some PR add-on," Tony Keohane, chief executive of Tesco Ireland, commented the store’s opening.

Tesco’s CO₂ commitment

Already last year, Tesco and other leading UK retailers pledged to accelerate the introduction of natural refrigerants in supermarket refrigeration. A further use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in commercial refrigeration would be incompatible with increasing climate change concerns and given the legislative uncertainty by the forthcoming F-Gases regulation no viable choice any more.

In August, Tesco CEO Terry Leahy called on business for an urgent rethinking, stating that retailers’ choice could no longer be “green or grow” but that investing in green technologies today would make perfect business sense. Retailers needed to play their parts in introducing this thinking to the whole supplier chain, local environments and consumers. CO₂ refrigeration was mentioned as one particular effort to overcome initial price barriers in order to save emissions and energy - both key success factors for tomorrow’s survival of businesses. A “mass movement in green consumption” initiated by retailers would be needed today. Leahy urged all retailers to cooperate with Tesco in bringing forward new environmental initiatives.

About Tesco

Britain’s largest retailer employs over 280,000 employees in 2,100 in the core UK business. Another 160,000 employees of the Tesco group work in 12 markets outside the UK in Europe, Asia and North America. Nearly 4,000 Tesco stores are located around the world, with 170 stores being in Ireland.