1. IntroductionThe postharvest handling of horticultural commodities underrefrigeration dramatically increases marketing options and reduceswastage for a wide range of commodities. However, the widespreadadoption of cool chain technology was introduced in an era whereenergy was cheap and there was no concern about greenhouse gasemissions. In recent years, the horticultural industry, in commonwith many other industries, has become interested in reducing itscarbon footprint. The twin drivers of change are economic, arisingfrom government actions that markedly increase the cost of energy,and community pressure for industry to be seen as a good cor-porate citizen. East (2010) reviewed postharvest energy usage ofhorticultural commodities and cites that in California, cooling andstorage of fresh horticultural produce uses close to 1 billion kWh ofenergy which was 5.5% of the electricity used by agriculture in thestate (Thompson and Singh, 2013). In addition, refrigeration in USsupermarkets is the main use of energy accounting for 36% of all∗