CO₂ Refrigeration in Japan Climbing, with Lawson, 7-Eleven and Family Mart Operating 9,662 CO₂ Stores in 2024

Japanese convenience store chains Lawson, 7-Eleven and Family Mart are actively installing CO₂ (R744) refrigeration, with a combined total of 9,662 CO₂ stores operating in the country, according to individual 2024 reports.

Lawson reported 6,800 CO₂ stores while 7-Eleven had 1,262 and Family Mart, 1,600.

“Compared to conventional [synthetic] cooling equipment, non-fluorocarbon refrigerants can cut CO₂e emissions in half,” Lawson says on its decarbonization webpage. “In addition, this system has excellent energy-saving performance, [making] it an effective means of reducing fluorocarbon emissions and conserving energy.”

As a leading provider of CO₂ outdoor condensing units (OCUs), Japanese HVAC&R manufacturer Panasonic has supplied more than 23,000 CO₂ OCUs to the market since 2010. The company reported selling roughly 7,000 CO₂ OCUs in Japan last year in a presentation at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2024. The event was organized by ATMOsphere, publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, and was held November 25–26 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Lawson: The company first used CO₂ in December 2010. After confirming the refrigerant’s effectiveness, it began a full-scale changeover throughout its operations, which started in August 2014.

• The company increased its CO₂ stores by 22% from the 5,300 stores using the refrigerant in 2023.
• Roughly 46% of the company’s 14,608 stores use CO₂ refrigerant.
• “We hope that more companies will adopt non-fluorocarbon refrigeration and freezing systems and help prevent global warming,” Lawson says.

7-Eleven: As of May 2024, the retail chain increased its CO₂ stores by 30% from its 877 stores in 2023.

• “CO₂ refrigerant has less impact on global warming than ozone-layer depleting CFCs,” 7-Eleven says on its global environment webpage. “In 2024, we proactively installed [CO₂] equipment in approximately half of the newly opened stores.”

Family Mart: Roughly 10% of the retail chain’s non-consolidated stores in Japan use CO₂ refrigeration.

• “With its energy-saving effect, we are promoting the use of CO₂ refrigerant,” Family Mart says in its environmental progress report.

“We want to increase the number of stores that will use natural refrigerants.”

Masafumi Okuda, Manager of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department at Aeon.

Aeon: As the largest retail chain in Japan, Aeon first used CO₂ refrigeration in 2009. It operates supermarkets and convenience stores, including MiniStop.

• The retailer has installed natural refrigerant-based equipment, including CO₂ and hydrocarbons, in all new stores since issuing an official declaration in 2011.
• In its 2024 report, Aeon recorded 1,700 stores with natural refrigerant coolers and freezers, which includes new stores and retrofits.
• “To reduce investment costs, we want to increase the number of stores that will use natural refrigerants [to achieve economies of scale] and use subsidies as much as possible,” said Masafumi Okuda, Manager of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department at Aeon.