Maxitrans general manager manufacturing Glen Walker said the company is excited by the release of ecoFridge, to be unveiled at the Melbourne Truck, Trailer and Equipment Expo next Thursday.

MaxiTRANS, Australia's leader in temperature-controlled road-transport equipment, has worked with a European company to develop the state-of-the-art ecoFridge, a cryogenic transport refrigeration system.

Unlike the conventional diesel-powered refrigeration plant, the ecoFridge uses a liquified nitrogen evaporative cooling module which is completely emission-free.

The technology uses liquid nitrogen to cool the van and maintain low temperatures. Liquid nitrogen is stored at -196C in a 1000L tank under the the trailer.

To ensure absolute emissions-free status, customers can specify that their liquid nitrogen supplies are generated by renewable energy.

``Assuming green electricity is used to produce the liquid nitrogen, ecoFridge will save 21 tonnes of CO2 per installation,'' Mr Walker said.

Another huge plus for the new technology is it is completely silent and with virtually no moving parts, it is almost maintenance-free.