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PepsiCo announced on Tuesday that it will place 35 hydrocarbon coolers throughout Miami as part of a pilot project to reduce the carbon footprint of its refrigeration equipment.

Being the first to have introduced 30 natural refrigerant CO2 (R744) beverage coolers to the US market, PepsiCo is now introducing the nation’s first hydrocarbon coolers. The programme will be carried out within the context of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) that is set to commence next week in Miami.

The R290 coolers use 20% less energy than Energy Star requirements

The new units use hydrocarbon refrigerant R290 (propane) that cuts direct greenhouse gas emissions by 99%. In terms of energy efficiency, the new units use on average 44% less energy than 2008 models, and 20% less energy than Energy Star requirements.

“[...] introducing these energy-efficient, HFC-free coolers is the next step in PepsiCo's strategic sustainability initiative to reduce harmful emissions from all of its refrigeration equipment”, said Robert Lewis, vice president of packaging and equipment for PepsiCo.

The location of the coolers

The 35 R290 coolers will be placed at:

• Sun Life Stadium for the Super Bowl
• American Airlines Arena, one of the first LEED-certified arenas in the country
• Florida International University
• Various retail, grocery and convenience stores throughout Miami

Background

PepsiCo currently has about 4 to 5 million vending machines and coolers around the world. An estimated 5,000 Pepsi hydrocarbon vending machines are currently being used globally. The company is a member of Refrigerants Naturally!, the global initiative focused on addressing climate change and ozone layer depletion caused by hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases.


If one of our readers comes across one of these units in Miami, send us a picture at info@hydrocarbons.com so we can upload it in our gallery. Thank you!