How good insulation leads to food preservation

The route that food undergoes from farm to fork is not one without hurdles. Food loss may occur already on the farm – for instance when grain is threshed, winnowed, and dried – as well as during transportation, storage, and processing.

Covestro has come up with a way to improve insulation of solar-powered greenhouses for drying food to preserve it, reducing post-harvest losses in agricultural products.

The dryer is highly efficient due to the construction of the greenhouse in a parabolical shape, using a material that is transparent to visible and infrared light, which has good thermal insulating properties. This allows the dryer to heat up quickly.

So far Covestro has provided the materials for the installation of more than 1,500 solar dryers in different sizes in India and different ASEAN countries. By installing solar dryers for food preservation the chemical industry can strengthen local economic development, alleviate poverty and support social progress by integrating low-income communities in the value chain.

Covestro was granted the Solar Impulse Efficient Solutions Label for this project. Read more here.

Associated SDG targets