In the Nonstal in the Trentino region, just south of the Italian fruit growing area of South Tyrol, there are plans to build a cable car system for the transport of apples from the cold stores to the grading and packing stations and vice versa. The cable car system must drastically reduce the transport of bins full of fruit by truck. According to the plans, 6,000 truck rides can be saved. During harvest time this concerns 80 rides per day between the grading and packings station in Predaia and the cold stores 87 m higher and at a distance of 1.3 km. These cold stores have been built in the old Rio-Maggiore mine to be able to profit from the coolness in the underground mine, to save 30% on energy in this way.
The cable car system makes it possible to transport 460 bins per hour at a speed of 5 metres per second. The aim of this multimillion project, is to reduce the CO2 emissions by truck traffic. (Source: Stol.it)
View the animation video of the cable car system for apple bins here.