Deep Diving into Transport, Logistics, and Cold Chain

Moving sensitive goods in a warming world
In modern society, most of what we use and eat needs to be transported from where it is harvested or produced to where it is consumed. That requires a considerable effort in maintaining goods fresh and healthy for consumption. But according to the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately 526 million tonnes of food—around 12% of global production—are lost or wasted because of insufficient refrigeration.^[1] United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also estimate that food cold chains are responsible for around 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions when emissions from cooling technologies and food loss caused by inadequate refrigeration are considered together.^[2]

Transport on ice: I envisioned an ice-shaped van carrying vegetables inside. It travels along a giant microchip designed to resemble a road.

These figures reveal a dual challenge. Greater access to refrigeration can reduce food loss, strengthen farmer incomes, support public health, and connect producers with more distant markets. Expanding cold-chain infrastructure through inefficient equipment, carbon-intensive energy, and high-global-warming-potential refrigerants can increase energy demand and emissions.

The cold chain was a logistics and cost problem based on energy
Transport describes the physical movement of goods, while logistics coordinates the routes, timing, inventory, infrastructure, information, and organizations that make this movement possible. The cold chain operates within this wider system and adds a product-specific requirement: environmental conditions must remain within defined limits throughout the journey. Temperature is often the central variable, although humidity, airflow, light exposure, vibration, and handling time can also influence whether a product retains its quality, safety, and intended function. For this reason, cold-chain performance depends on the complete environment surrounding the product rather than the performance of a refrigerated vehicle or warehouse in isolation.

The word “cold” can also be misleading because the objective is not to maintain the lowest possible temperature. Some products require chilled or frozen environments, while others travel under controlled ambient, ultra-low-temperature, or cryogenic conditions. The appropriate range depends on the biological or chemical characteristics of the product, its intended use, its stability profile, and the regulations that govern it. A reliable system must therefore understand what it is protecting before deciding which equipment, packaging, monitoring, and operating conditions are required.

For food, this system begins near production and continues until consumption. FAO and UNEP describe upstream operations as pre-cooling, processing, packaging, ice production, and short-term storage close to farms or production sites. Downstream operations include refrigerated transportation, distribution centers, wholesale markets, retail infrastructure, and final delivery.[2] Pharmaceutical supply chains follow a comparable physical journey, although many products require additional qualification, monitoring, and documentation. The World Health Organization guidance consequently addresses storage facilities, backup power, customs clearance, transport routes, vehicle and container performance, alarm systems, calibration, traceability, contingency planning, and personnel training as connected parts of pharmaceutical product protection.[3]

Maintaining these conditions requires several forms of infrastructure to operate together. Active cooling systems use electricity or fuel to regulate temperature inside cold rooms, refrigerated vehicles, and air or ocean containers, while passive systems rely on insulation and a finite source of thermal protection, such as gel packs, dry ice, or phase-change materials.[3] Their performance is influenced by the roads, ports, loading facilities, warehouses, energy supply, packaging configurations, maintenance networks, and digital systems available along the route. A change in one part of this environment can alter the performance of the rest. Longer waiting times increase the duration for which packaging must provide protection, unreliable electricity increases dependence on backup systems, and limited connectivity can prevent operators from responding to changing conditions.

This interdependence makes the cold chain a relevant ClimateTech system. Its first climate-related function is protective: food, medicines, and other sensitive goods must remain accessible and usable under rising temperatures and increasingly variable environmental conditions. The consequence of maintaining its primary function is that it has an impact, economically and environmentally talking.

Airplane: I envision a refrigerated aircraft designed for transportation. The umbrella represents a digital system that powers and protects it, allowing food and medicines to be transported safely inside.

Together, these companies show that cold-chain is emerging through several complementary routes: cleaner cooling, distributed infrastructure, thermal storage, product-level intelligence, and electrified transport. Their climate impact will ultimately depend on how effectively these technologies can be integrated into local energy, logistics, and food systems.

Different markets require different systems
Cold-chain technologies cannot be transferred unchanged from one market to another. Their performance depends on ambient temperatures, electricity reliability, transport distances, road conditions, maintenance capacity, regulation, and the type of product being moved. A system designed for a dense logistics network may be technically or economically unsuitable for a rural region with fragmented production and limited access to reliable power.

In established cold-chain markets, the climate opportunity lies in improving existing infrastructure through efficient refrigeration, low-impact refrigerants, electrified transport, and better system monitoring. In regions where infrastructure remains limited, the priority may be to create reliable cooling access close to farms and local markets. Modular solar cold rooms, thermal storage, and pay-per-use business models can help reduce dependence on unstable grids and large upfront investments. The FAO identifies decentralised solar energy as an important option for off-grid and remote cold chains.
The technical requirements also change by product. Vaccines and biologics require strict temperature control, traceability, and regulatory compliance, while fresh produce depends heavily on rapid precooling and affordable storage near the point of harvest. Frozen food requires continuous high-energy refrigeration, and each system must remain reliable during extreme heat, flooding, power interruptions, and transport delays.

Scaling these technologies therefore requires local infrastructure, financing models, technical support, and policy to develop alongside the equipment itself. As the UNEP and FAO emphasise, sustainable cold chains need a systems approach. The most relevant ClimateTech solutions will be those that reduce emissions while responding to the operational realities of each market.

What determines whether a cold-chain solution can scale?
A cold-chain technology becomes scalable when it can maintain the required temperature under real operating conditions and deliver clear economic value. Energy efficiency, refrigerant leakage, equipment reliability, maintenance requirements, downtime, and the reduction of product losses all affect its long-term performance. Its climate impact must also consider emissions from electricity consumption, refrigerants, transport, and equipment across the system’s lifetime.

Economics can be as decisive as technical performance. Efficient equipment may remain inaccessible when it requires significant upfront investment or operates below capacity. Models such as cooling-as-a-service, leasing, shared infrastructure, and pay-per-use can distribute costs and make adoption more viable. The World Bank identifies food cold chains and cooling-as-a-service among the areas that could benefit from dedicated sustainable finance.

Integration is another critical factor. New equipment must connect with warehouses, vehicles, packaging, monitoring platforms, and existing operating procedures. Spare parts, trained technicians, data access, and local implementation partners determine whether performance can be maintained after deployment.

Scaling therefore depends on the alignment of technology, infrastructure, business models, financing, and policy. UNEP highlights measurable data, innovative business models, financing mechanisms, training, and capacity building as essential components of sustainable cold-chain development. These factors help determine whether a solution can progress from a successful pilot to reliable, lower-emission infrastructure.

Where the strategic opportunity lies
The strongest opportunities often emerge where several parts of the cold chain are improved together. Efficient refrigeration creates greater value when it is supported by clean energy, thermal storage, condition monitoring, and logistics systems capable of responding to disruptions. This creates space for companies developing individual technologies and for those integrating them into complete services.

For founders, the challenge is to demonstrate reliable performance within the customer’s operating environment, supported by clear unit economics and measurable climate outcomes. Investors and industrial partners must evaluate the importance of the problem, technology readiness, infrastructure dependencies, deployment requirements, and the pathway to recurring revenue.

Solutions with the greatest potential will reduce product loss, energy consumption, operating costs, and emissions while improving reliability. Identifying them requires an understanding of how the technology interacts with the wider energy, logistics, regulatory, and commercial system.

Building the next generation of cold chains
As temperatures rise and supply networks face more frequent disruption, cold chains are becoming critical climate infrastructure. Their transformation will affect food security, healthcare, trade, producer incomes, and the emissions generated across global supply chains.

Many of the necessary technologies are already emerging. The next challenge is selecting the right solutions, validating them under real operating conditions, integrating them with existing infrastructure, and developing viable pathways for deployment and scale.

Developing a technology for transport, logistics, or cold chains? Contact Activae to assess its investment readiness, identify the gaps that could slow deployment, and build a clearer path toward capital and scale.

Developing resilient, accessible, and lower-emission cold chains will require coordinated decisions across the entire system. Those decisions will determine how effectively essential products can move through a warmer and increasingly uncertain world.