The Department of Energy has selected Unilever for award negotiations of up to $20.9 million to reduce the carbon emissions at four of its US Ice Cream Business Group factories.
The factories, located in Tennessee, Missouri, and Vermont, are responsible for producing packaged ice cream and frozen novelty products, such as Ben & Jerry's, Talenti, Magnum, Breyers, and Klondike.
Unilever will use the funding to replace the natural gas boilers at the factories with electric boilers and industrial heat pumps using waste heat recovery. The proposed project would cut 14,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually and help the company on its path to utilizing 100% renewable energy at all of its workplaces.
“We are making progress to decarbonize our ice cream business, and these substantial upgrades will mean a major cut in emissions,” said Sandeep Desai, Chief Product Supply Chain Officer at Unilever Ice Cream. “This step moves us closer to our sustainability goals and is a significant investment in the future for our business and planet.”
Along with emissions reduction, the DOE feels the project has a high replicability potential that could be used to create a model to progress decarbonization throughout the food and beverage sector, where approximately 50% of processing emissions are from low-temperature heating.
Each of the factories will also help serve the surrounding communities; the Tennessee factory will engage local community organizations to build prosperity for underserved communities, the Missouri factory will partner with Southeast Missouri State College to provide internship opportunities, and the factories in Vermont will support a range of community development initiatives.
