Mr. Alberto GHIRALDI, NOMOS SRL, Italy

Award on the theme of Technology and Value Addition, for "Passive Refrigeration" technology

This innovative technology enables producers to maintain the fresh/cold chain from farms to markets independent of a continuous power supply. It thus reduces post-harvest, post-slaughter and post-milking waste and provides safer food to consumers. The solution, competitive in price compared to conventional technology, enables saving in energy and maintenance costs.

The storage life of all perishable foodstuff depends on the quality of the cold-fresh chain and its application from the field/slaughtery/fishing/processing to the point of sale. The operation of conventional cold-fresh chain requires H24 large amounts of electricity and the quality of preservation is such that timing becomes an extremely critical factor. The main features of PRSTM (see www.refrigerazionepassiva.com ) are: the quality of preservation, which results in a longer storage life; multiple vs. conventional refrigeration technology; thermal autonomy, which allows the system to operate without using power while functioning, thus resulting in a continuous cold/fresh chain not dependent on connection to an external power supply.

The PRSTM technology has been developed by High Technology Participation S.A. as spin off of Passive Conditioning technology which is extensively used in Middle Eastern Countries for the temperature control of telecommunication sites.