Brussels, 14 April 2014: Today’s vote by the Council of the European Union approving the new F-Gas rules, together with the European Parliament’s endorsement in March 2014, formally seals the ‘deal’ for the introduction of new F-Gas measures in the EU as of 2015. shecco trusts that the new measures, and in particular the HFC bans in certain sectors, will open up market opportunities for a wider uptake of climate friendly natural refrigerants.
The new F-Gas measures provide a clear signal to both end users and manufacturers to scale up investment, deployment and production of climate friendly natural refrigerant technologies. “The new rules have the potential to break the often encountered “chicken and egg” situation, whereby some end users hesitate to install natural refrigerants because of limited supply, and manufacturers are not investing in scaling up supply because there is insufficient demand by end users”, says Alexandra Maratou, Deputy Public Affairs Manager at shecco.
shecco raises awareness of natural refrigerant solutions
By engaging with relevant EU policy-makers and involving them in discussions with progressive companies that have developed and commercialised systems using natural refrigerants, shecco has raised awareness about the availability and energy efficiency of climate friendly technologies, thereby contributing to the outcome of the F-Gas discussions.
“Banning f-gases in new commercial refrigeration equipment from 2022 will spur innovation, to the immediate benefit of many innovative European firms, by stimulating demand for natural refrigerants”, said leading negotiator from the European Parliament, Bas Eickhout, in a press release following the Parliament’s backing of the rules earlier in March 2014.
A win for the climate
The new rules are aimed at reducing the use of fluorinated gases in the EU by about 2/3rds by 2030 compared to today’s levels, contributing a fair share towards meeting the EU’s overall emissions reduction targets.
The new Regulation will not only reduce emissions in the EU, but will also have a global impact. “Increased EU demand for alternative technologies is likely to spur innovation and economies of scale also in other markets, hence reducing costs of a global phase-down of HFCs”, said EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard during a debate in the European Parliament on 11 March 2014. “This is crucial, because unless other major economies follow Europe’s lead, global production and consumption of these extremely powerful greenhouse gases will continue to grow. The swift and immediate implementation of the Regulation as of 2015 will prove that ambitious measures on HFCs are feasible. With this domestic legislation the EU has gained global leadership on this issue and we are prepared to use this role in order to make progress also at the international level”.
About shecco
For more than a decade marketing & communications expert shecco has been active in helping bring climate friendly technologies faster to market. shecco supports over 100+ partners worldwide in two areas: the HVAC&R sector, where the focus is on sustainable refrigeration, heating & cooling technologies using natural refrigerants; and the transport sectors where an emphasis is put on electric vehicles (cars, heavy duty vehicle, scooters, bikes). shecco offers a variety of services, ranging from world-leading online industry platforms, to market research & consultancy services, events management, funding & grants support, and public affairs.
Contacts
Alexandra Maratou
Deputy Public Affairs Manager
alexandra.maratou@shecco.eu
Marc Chasserot
Managing Director
marc.chasserot@shecco.eu
Janaina Topley Lira
Media Relations
jana.topleylira@shecco.eu
More Information:
EU-F-Gas-rules-adoption-press-release-shecco_April2014 (97 KB)