Life cycle climate impacts of lithium battery–powered refrigerated containers: comparative assessment and sensitivity analysis

Abstract Decarbonizing temperature-controlled road freight is essential to sustainable food systems but complicated by the added energy demand of refrigeration. We perform a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of 40—ft refrigerated containers comparing a diesel mechanical refrigerated container (MRC) with a battery-driven lithium refrigerated container (LRC). This study focuses on climate change impacts expressed as life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (CO₂-equivalent). Under a Chin