CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
With the rising prices of commodities and increasing global temperatures, food storage has been a problem
for many communities worldwide, especially here in the Philippines 29.8% of Filipinos do not have access to electricity
or perhaps don’t have a sustainable source of electricity in their communities leaving them in a really tough situation
when it comes to food preservation and storage, this project would help low-income households and poverty struck
communities have access to a cheaper alternative to the modern refrigerator allowing them to store produce and preserve
their food for longer periods of time, food spoilage is also a global problem the Philippines is no exception to the
tremendous food waste generated each year, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally.
This amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year, worth approximately US$1 trillion, this could be solved if we created a
better system for preservation in not so well off communities leaving no room for food waste, many families are
vulnerable to these problems, through this project we can create opportunities and solutions to the everyday cycle of food
waste in the country, we’ll determine how effective is the insulation for this clay fridges, how they can function in
different environments, how durable it is, and for how long it can store food.
Taking those into consideration, in response to the issue of food waste and lack of access to electricity for
rural communities we’ve developed this research to create a much cheaper, accessible, and sustainable alternative to
conventional fridges, by formulating insulators for off-the-grid electricity-free refrigerators.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

This study aims to make electricity free refrigerators accessible for everyone in our community, inflation is a
prevalent issue for as long as we can remember in all aspects of life every way to cut cost is a great way to help in our
day-to-day habits, and as to how we can preserve food for much longer is an integral part of this challenge, but the high
cost of ordinary refrigerators has become a burden for low-income households, especially to the 29.8% that don’t have
access to electricity and would be left in a knot on how they can store produce even more so in the face of immense heat
making food spoil much faster, the weather in the Philippines is an unforgiving cycle and with average temperatures in the
Philippines usually range between 21 °C (70 °F) and 32 °C (90 °F) with the average yearly temperature coming in at
around 26.6 °C (79.9 °F) keeping food fresh for consumption or even for the market in off-the-grid communities is even
more of a hurdle to pass, by idealizing and implementing these electricity-free refrigerators in such areas in our
communities it can help extend and preserve foods for much longer, and not only is it much cheaper the materials are also
very easy to acquire, in terms of affordability and accessibility these Bio-waste insulated electricity free fridges is the best
option out there and would help families all over the country who’s facing a crisis of food storage, the cheapest
refrigerators range around Php 6,999 and global demand makes it even harder to acquire driving prices up over the past
few years, this is also largely because of the increased cost of materials such as aluminum, steel, and copper. Increased
freight and shipping costs are also a factor to consider, on the other hand, these electricity-free fridges are only made out
of clay and bio-waste from our community making it safer for the environment it would still serve a similar purpose in
terms of keeping food fresh thus solving the exponential problem in our community.
Furthermore, as discussed conventional refrigerators are one of the most commonly reported pollutants of
our ecosystem, even so, the most common type of refrigerant used to be chlorofluorocarbons, more widely known by their
acronym CFCs. But after CFCs were found to be depleting the ozone layer, there was a worldwide effort to phased them
out. The 1987 Montreal Protocol – a landmark environmental agreement signed by over 200 countries – means these
environmentally harmful chemicals are no longer produced. But the effort to get rid of CFCs resulted in many chemical
manufacturers choosing to replace them with two groups of chemicals with a different problem – hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). These refrigerants break down ozone molecules far less, but are
extremely potent greenhouse gases. Their capacity to warm the atmosphere – measured as global warming potential – is
thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide, with some being up to 13,850 times more potent, the number of global
cooling devices is estimated to increase from 3.6 billion to 9.5 billion by 2050 this would mean an atomic bomb level
threat for our environment these electricity-free refrigerators with bio-waste insulators that we’re introducing can help
mitigate those problems when introduced to as many communities here in our country, In hot and muggy climates, like the
Philippines these alternative fridges can change lives. It can be even more rewarding for the families who would be able to
plant and harvest food. They no longer have to worry about wasting the bad food. Instead, they can enjoy all of it and its
benefits.