NEOBIOME

OT_205: Hume & Coelho / Landcare (2011) — kiwifruit coolstore electricity (NZ MAF report)

Properties5
typesource
source_typeot
authorAnthony Hume, Carla Coelho
year2011
topicsfood_systems_agriculture, energy_storage_grid, nz_specific

9 min read

OT_205: Hume & Coelho / Landcare (2011) — kiwifruit coolstore electricity (NZ MAF report)

Source

https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/assets/researchpubs/water_footprint_kiwifruit.pdf — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)

Hume & Coelho / Landcare (2011) — Assessment of the Water Footprint of Fresh Kiwifruit

NI-load-bearing extract: kiwifruit coolstore electricity ≈ 0.44 kWh per Tray Equivalent (range 0.38–0.49 kWh/TE), from a NZ EECA–Zespri survey of six coolstore facilities (Bollen 2009), corroborated by Landcare's own survey of three Bay-of-Plenty packhouse/coolstores at 0.48±0.02 kWh/TE (Table 14). At the report's own ~3.6 kg/TE this is ~106–136 kWh per tonne (avg ~122 kWh/t) of stored fruit — the produce cold-storage electrical-load term for the NI energy model. A published Landcare Research / MAF report (March 2011, 133 pp); the coolstore-electricity figures are the model-relevant slice of a water-footprint LCA of NZ kiwifruit.

Summary

Final report of a NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)-commissioned study by Landcare Research assessing the water footprint of fresh NZ kiwifruit across the supply chain (orchard, packhouse, coolstore, and post-coolstore stages), using primary survey data for the orchard and packhouse/coolstore stages of the 2009/10 season. For Neobiome Intelligence the value is not the water footprint but the packhouse/coolstore energy inventory the study collected as a by-product: direct electricity consumption per Tray Equivalent (TE) for refrigerated (and controlled-atmosphere) storage of kiwifruit. The report both cites an EECA–Zespri benchmark (six coolstore facilities, average 0.44 kWh/TE, from Bollen 2009) and reports its own measured figure (three combined packhouse/coolstore facilities near Mt Maunganui and Te Puke, 0.48±0.02 kWh/TE for Class I green “Hayward” kiwifruit, Table 14). The two independent NZ datasets agree that kiwifruit coolstore electricity sits at ~0.4–0.5 kWh/TE, which is why this source is data_quality: verified. context: ni — feeds the cross-cutting NZ energy-demand layer (feeds: [d01_renewable_energy_storage]) as a produce cold-storage load, alongside the sibling apple-coolstore (Frater / Merts & Cleland) and international cold-store SEC (Evans et al.) sources.

Key claims

- claim: "THE MODEL FIGURE (EECA–Zespri benchmark, cited): 'In a recent report by the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and Zespri™ in 2008 the electricity use of six coolstore facilities ranged from 0.38 kWh/TE to 0.49 kWh/TE, with an average of 0.44 kWh TE (Bollen 2009).' [unit as printed reads 'kWh TE' = kWh/TE]. PROVENANCE: this 0.38–0.49 / avg-0.44 kWh/TE figure ORIGINATES with Bollen (2009) — an EECA/Zespri survey of six coolstore facilities in 2008 — which Landcare quotes; it is not Landcare's own measurement."
  source_location: "§6.5 Coolstore operations, paragraph immediately after Table 14 — p.47 (PDF viewer) / printed 'Page 43'"
- claim: "LANDCARE'S OWN MEASURED FIGURE: 'In the electricity consumption figures given in Table 14, electricity use was 0.48±0.02 kWh TE for Class I green kiwifruit. The survey results are therefore within the range of values reported in Bollen (2009).' Table 14 electricity 'Total' per-TE column = 0.479 (0.022) kWh/TE, built from PHC1 1,476,531 kWh, PHC2 1,396,821 kWh, PHC3 2,666,014 kWh over the 2009/10 season."
  source_location: "Table 14 'Water, fuel, and electricity consumption for Class I green kiwifruit delivered in the coolstore' (Electricity 'Total' row, Average-per-TE column = 0.479 (0.022)) + following paragraph — p.46–47 (PDF) / printed 'Page 42–43'"
- claim: "METERING CAVEAT (the coolstore figure is an ALLOCATED 80% share, not sub-metered): 'All three packhouses had one electricity meter for both the packhouse and coolstore operations. After consultation with the packhouse and coolstore staff, a split of 20% use in the packhouse and 80% use in the coolstore was assumed.' So the ~0.48 kWh/TE coolstore value is 80% of a single shared packhouse+coolstore meter, allocated by assumption. The packhouse's own per-TE electricity (Table 12) was 0.110 (0.01) kWh/TE."
  source_location: "§6.4 packhouse direct water/fuel/electricity (metering split) + Table 12 (packhouse electricity 'Total' = 0.110 (0.01) per TE) — printed 'Page 40' (PDF p.44)"
- claim: "TE UNIT / kg BASIS (enables the kWh/tonne restatement): 'A weighted-average single-layer tray for all green kiwifruit categories weighs 3.615 [kg], of which total fruit weight is 3.3 kg and the remainder packaging.' A Tray Equivalent (TE) is a volume-based trade unit; the report elsewhere states TE means ~3.6 kg of kiwifruit. DERIVED (arithmetic here, NOT stated in the report): 0.38–0.49 kWh/TE ÷ ~3.6 kg = ~106–136 kWh/t (avg 0.44 → ~122 kWh/t on the 3.6 kg tray basis, ~133 kWh/t on the 3.3 kg fruit-only basis)."
  source_location: "TE units definition — printed 'Page 17' (PDF p.21) ('weighted-average single-layer tray ... weighs 3.615 ... 3.3 kg ... remainder packaging'); TE ≈ 3.6 kg confirmations at printed p.72/103. kWh/t conversion is arithmetic here, not in the source."
- claim: "STUDY SCOPE & REPRESENTATIVENESS: three combined packhouse+coolstore facilities were surveyed (PHC1 & PHC2 near Mt Maunganui, PHC3 near Te Puke — Bay of Plenty), May–June 2010, for the 2009/10 season, on Class I green ('Hayward' / Zespri Green) kiwifruit. Storage duration: without controlled atmosphere (CA) 76–205 days (avg 154); with CA 37–127 days (avg 84). National context: nationally there were ~92 coolstores and 'In total 109 386 000 TE were submitted, of which 71% were green kiwifruit'. 'On average, each coolstore stored 1 189 000 TE' — i.e. 1,189,000 TE is the NATIONAL AVERAGE per coolstore (109 386 000 TE ÷ 92 coolstores), NOT the size of the surveyed facilities. By contrast 'The three coolstores surveyed typically stored more than 2 Million TE of kiwifruit' — the three surveyed facilities were LARGER than the national average, so the sample skews to bigger-than-typical coolstores."
  source_location: "§6.1 The packhouse and coolstore survey + §6.5 + Table 13 (storage times) — national-context figures printed 'Page 29–30' (national average 1 189 000 TE/coolstore and 'three coolstores surveyed ... more than 2 Million TE' both printed p.29; '109 386 000 TE ... 71% green' printed p.30); PHC locations printed p.32–33; storage durations printed p.41–42"

Neobiome Intelligence relevance

Supplies the produce cold-storage electrical-load term for the NI energy model — a food cold-chain demand line for an eco-village that stores its own horticultural output.

What it supplies (energy-demand layer, feeds: [d01_renewable_energy_storage]):

  • Kiwifruit coolstore electricity ≈ 0.44 kWh/TE (range 0.38–0.49), corroborated by Landcare’s own 0.48±0.02 kWh/TE — i.e. two independent NZ datasets bracket ~0.4–0.5 kWh/TE.
  • Restated for the model’s per-mass load basis: ~106–136 kWh per tonne (avg ~122 kWh/t) of stored kiwifruit at the report’s ~3.6 kg/TE. This kWh/t figure is a conversion made on this page, not a source figure — carry the kWh/TE original as the primary value.
  • Complements the dairy-shed electrical loads (sibling sources) as another cold-chain / food-storage demand item, and the generic-produce anchors — apple/coldstore 79 kWh/m³/yr (Frater 2011 / Merts & Cleland 2004) and international cold-store SEC (Evans et al. 2015).

Caveats for the modeller:

  1. Kiwifruit-specific and duration-specific. This is long-term (76–205 days, some in controlled atmosphere) storage of a single crop in the Bay of Plenty. It is a per-TE (per-tray) figure, not a generic per-m³ cold-room intensity; for a generic produce coolstore, pair it with the apple 79 kWh/m³/yr and the international SEC figures.
  2. Allocated, not sub-metered. The 0.48 kWh/TE is the assumed 80% coolstore share of a single packhouse+coolstore meter — an allocation, not a direct coolstore sub-meter reading.
  3. Unit conversion. TE is a volume-based trade unit (~3.6 kg incl. packaging, ~3.3 kg fruit); convert kWh/TE → kWh/t deliberately and state the basis.
  4. Sample skews large. The three surveyed coolstores each held >2 million TE, above the ~1,189,000 TE national average per coolstore — a bigger-than-typical facility sample, so the per-TE intensity reflects large-facility operation.

Research targets

No new research targets opened. This source supplies the coolstore-electricity figure the corpus was missing. The 0.44 kWh/TE figure’s true origin — Bollen (2009), EECA/Zespri — is a retrievable upstream, but it is not opened as an RT: the model already has the verified range from a retrievable NZ primary (this Landcare report) plus Landcare’s own corroborating measurement, so retrieving Bollen would add precision-of-origin only, not a new number. Recorded as provenance in Notes instead of a target.

Documents to retrieve

  • None.

Research gaps

  • None opened. (Origin document Bollen 2009 noted for provenance only — see Notes; not a standalone RT.)

Retrieval provenance

  • Upstream source: published report — Hume A & Coelho C (2011) Assessment of the Water Footprint of Fresh Kiwifruit: Methods and Scoping, Final Report, Landcare Research, Wellington, prepared for NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Contract MAF POL 0910-11522), March 2011, 133 pp.
  • Located by: an AI retrieval pass on 2026-07-25 (retrieval record held with the project), which flagged the origin-vs-holder provenance (0.44 originates with Bollen 2009; Landcare’s own Table 14 = 0.48±0.02) that is applied here.
  • Read: verbatim, via pdftotext -layout on the downloaded PDF (133 pp). Every coolstore-electricity figure in key_claims is quoted directly from the authoritative primary with an exact source_location — source-verified, not AI-extracted-and-unverified.
  • Verification status: data_quality: verified — the load is corroborated by two independent NZ datasets (EECA–Zespri six facilities, 0.44 kWh/TE; Landcare three facilities, 0.48±0.02 kWh/TE). sha256 recorded in frontmatter (0fd28b69…).

Notes

  • data_quality: verified on the strength of two corroborating NZ datasets (see Retrieval provenance), not a single reading.
  • Provenance of the headline 0.44 kWh/TE: it originates with Bollen (2009) (an EECA/Zespri survey of six coolstore facilities, 2008), which Landcare quotes at printed p.43. Landcare’s own measurement (three Bay-of-Plenty facilities, 2009/10) was slightly higher at 0.48±0.02 kWh/TE (Table 14). Both are recorded in key_claims; use the 0.44 range as the multi-facility benchmark and the 0.48 as the corroborating in-study value.
  • Metering caveat: the coolstore electricity was not separately sub-metered — a single packhouse+coolstore meter was split 20%/80% packhouse/coolstore by assumption after consultation with staff. The 0.48 kWh/TE is that 80% allocation.
  • National-average vs surveyed-facility caveat: the report’s 1,189,000 TE/coolstore is the NATIONAL AVERAGE across ~92 coolstores (109,386,000 TE ÷ 92, printed p.29–30), not the size of the surveyed facilities. The three surveyed coolstores each “typically stored more than 2 Million TE” (printed p.29) — i.e. a larger-than-average sample.
  • Unit caveat: figures are per Tray Equivalent (TE), a volume-based trade unit ≈ 3.6 kg (fruit ~3.3 kg + packaging). The ~106–136 kWh/t restatement is arithmetic done on this page (0.38–0.49 kWh/TE ÷ ~3.6 kg × 1000), not a figure in the report — carry the kWh/TE original as the source value.
  • Transcription note: the report prints the unit inconsistently as both “kWh/TE” (in the range) and “kWh TE” (in the average and the 0.48 figure) — the same unit, kWh per Tray Equivalent; pdftotext occasionally drops the slash.
  • Scope note: kiwifruit, Bay of Plenty, long-duration (incl. controlled-atmosphere) storage — a specific produce/duration. For a generic produce cold-room the apple 79 kWh/m³/yr and international cold-store SEC figures give the volumetric complement.

Connections

Referenced by

Sources (3): CR_058 · OT_206 · OT_209

EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems

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