Key Points and Feasible Paths for Carbon-Emission Reduction of Cold Processing in Vegetable-Producing Areas

In recent years, the demand for high-quality fresh agricultural products, such as vegetables, has increased continuously, and the application rate of cold processing in vegetable-producing areas has increased as well, thus resulting in an increase in carbon emissions during vegetable processing. Based on existing models, this study performed sensitivity analysis to calculate the sensitivity of each parameter. The carbon-emission reduction leverage points were identified as refrigerant leakage and vegetable loss rate. Based on the key points of carbon-emission reduction, feasible paths were proposed, and the expected effects were calculated. In terms of refrigerant leakage, a green refrigerant replacement scheme was adopted, with R515B and R744 as the transitional and final solutions, respectively. Based on calculations, the transitional and final solutions can reduce carbon emissions by 28.98% and 26.78% in producing areas, respectively. In terms of vegetable quality loss, an optimization scheme for the vegetable loss rate can reduce carbon emissions by 11.48% in the producing areas. By jointly applying the optimization schemes for refrigerant leakage and vegetable loss rate, the calculation results show that using the combined optimization scheme can reduce carbon emissions by 37.62% in the producing areas.