Kiwi company helping dairy farmers reduce emissions

A New Zealand techgnology company is raising funds to help launch its on-farm milk cooling system and drastically lower dairy farming emissions.

New Zealand has declared a climate emergency, committing to net zero emissions by 2050. With a significant contribution to national carbon emissions, the dairy sector still has a way to go to help achieve this goal.

Matthew and Megan Darby of Cold Energy Technology believe they have a solution that can help. They believe their product, Eco2Dairy, will reduce costs, drastically lower dairy farming emissions, and improve on-farm cooling processes for milk.

“We have created a world first: an on-farm milk cooling system which uses natural refrigerants to cool milk and heat water.”, says Matthew, Founder and Managing Director.

Having been in the refrigeration industry for over twenty years, Matthew had the idea for the product while visiting a dairy farmer friend in 2010.

“Like many other dairy farmers, my friend was using cooling systems that were from the stone age. It kept malfunctioning, resulting in a lot of milk waste. It wasn’t environmentally sustainable and was getting more and more expensive to operate.”

According to Mr Darby, the increasing costs stem from the Kigali Amendment under the Montreal Protocol, which involves the phasing out of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the main coolants used in older cooling systems by New Zealand farmers. 

“113 countries, including New Zealand and members of the European Union, have ratified the phasing out of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) into law”, says Megan Darby, Co-Founder and Director.

“While this is a good thing for our planet, it means farmers carry a greater financial burden while running their farms. The Eco2Dairy product solves this problem”.

Patent-protected from September, the Cold Energy Technology team aims to penetrate 2.5% of New Zealand dairy farms with the Eco2Dairy product by 2025. To achieve this, Cold Energy Technology is currently raising investment through an equity crowdfunding campaign.

“As a Kiwi company, we are really excited to invite Kiwi investors to help propel this patent-protected, world-first technology out to our dairy farms and, potentially, the world.”

The company’s website claims to have prevented 60 million kilograms of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere through their current cooling products. 

According to Darby, the success of the equity crowdfunding campaign will mean the company will be able to increase this number significantly. “Cold Energy Technology is so much more than on-farm cooling. It’s about building and investing in a future that’s carbon-free.”

The equity crowdfunding campaign launched publicly on August the 4th at 3pm NZDT. Cold Energy Technology is aiming to raise up to $1.65 million through their equity crowdfunding campaign, with shares starting at $ $2.25 per share. 

For more information visit: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/investments/438-cold-energy-technology