At the 23rd meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Indonesia, the United Nations Environment Programme has launched a new report that examines the potentially threatening impact of rising HFC use on the global climate. shecco has been cited with data from its latest global industry survey on the viability of the natural refrigerants CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its new report titled “HFCs: A Critical Link in Protecting Climate and the Ozone Layer” on 21 November 2011. The publication examines the devastating results HFCs replacing ozone-depleting substances could have, due to their rapidly rising consumption worldwide. It is expected that the consumption of HFCs by 2050 could surpass the peak level of CFC use in the 1980’s, due mainly to rising demand in emerging economies. The report notes that to achieve real climate benefits of low-GWP alternative systems, such as through the use of natural refrigerants carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrocarbons, more information on direct and indirect emissions during the full lifecycles would be needed.
In its section on viable alternatives to high global warming fluorinated gases, the UNEP report cites data on the successful market penetration of CO2 transcritical systems in European supermarkets. shecco is not only relied on as a source for the current number of CO2-only refrigerated supermarkets per European country, but also prominently displayed as organizer of the ATMOsphere workshop held in October. Consumer brands Unilever and The Coca-Cola Company are hence quoted with presentations held during ATMOsphere on 11-12 October 2011.
“We are pleased that UNEP, the most authoritive international organisation on global environmental issues, is citing shecco’s latest findings about the market growth of natural refrigerant solutions in Europe and beyond. The upcoming “GUIDE to Natural Refrigerants”, to be launched in January 2012, will present still more data on the market growth potential of natural working fluids. We hope that this publication and future editions on the industry’s development will further inform the policy-making process and encourage more industry players to switch to HFC-free alternatives as soon as possible,” says Nina Burhenne, Head of Market Research shecco.
Also, shecco is actively working on the further analysis of technical and regulatory barriers to the adoption of low-GWP alternatives, and means to overcoming them – both items of highest priority as mentioned in the UNEP report.
More Information:
HFCs A Critical Link in Protecting Climate and the Ozone Layer, UNEP report Nov 2011 (986 KB)