Global research into demand for air conditioning systems has identified the impacts of climate change as being a major driver for increased cooling system demand for a range of purposes
A new whitepaper from Danfoss, the Danish family-controlled engineering group, titled ‘The neglected demand side of the green equation’, delves into the details of how energy efficiency is an enabler of electrification.
The Montreal Protocol didn’t just preserve the ozone layer, it helped save Earth from a climate change time bomb.
Italian OEM Epta has released results from its Life-C4R (Carbon 4 Retail Refrigeration) project, summarizing three years of data from seven European supermarkets testing commercial CO2 (R744) refrigeration systems.
Nuclear power is one way of sustainably producing ammonia, Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have modeled how much it would cost to use more environmentally friendly methods that emit less carbon to produce ammonia, finding nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia (NH3) production to be feasible, despite costs still being high.
A new paper in Environmental Research Letters by [Natural Resources Defense Council] NRDC experts and our colleagues lays out a pathway for India to phase down super climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, without infringing on the nation’s effort to scale up access to cooling for millions.
A-Gas Group Commercial Director, Ken Logan, explains why the latest F-Gas proposals in the short term may do more harm than good.
This summer’s heatwave in the UK has created havoc for many supermarkets with multiple stories of refrigeration system failures, lost stock and lost sales. All refrigeration technologies have been affected by this extreme weather, but now, with so many retailers using CO2 systems, Daniel Clark owner and MD at Preston-based CO2 systems manufacturer Isentra, asks whether 130bar transcritical systems have now become a necessity?
The F-gas regulation is continuously progressing with two new bans having come into effect from 1st January 2022 but most of the implications of the legislation are still hidden by the apparent abundant supply of higher GWP refrigerants.
We are all aware of the F-Gas legislation and the drive to low GWP refrigerants but this is only a small part of the overall solution to reduce climate changing emissions. Choosing a low GWP refrigerant does not guarantee a better energy efficiency and in some cases, it may even lead to an increase in the lifetime total emissions from the system if a lower efficiency option is selected. As well as refrigerant choice, there are other actions that can be taken to maintain or improve energy efficiency, reduce total emissions and in most cases they will even pay for themselves over the lifetime of the equipment.
A further cut of 29% in the availability of HFC refrigerants in Europe next year will accentuate the importance of recovery and reclamation, says Climalife UK’s head of sales Dave Richards.
We’ve known for years that HFC refrigerants are on borrowed time, and that businesses involved in food production, distribution or retail will need to adopt new ways of working.
When refrigeration and air conditioning equipment is installed, serviced, repaired and dismantled, safety issues need to be carefully evaluated and considered particularly when servicing technicians have to deal with refrigerants with properties that they were previously not familiar with. It is therefore important that the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry adapts to both the technical and safety issues concerning these refrigerants.
With the advancing worldwide phase out of HCFCs, UNEP’s OzonAction Division of Technology has produced a factsheet (in English and Russian languages) on the safe use of the new alternatives.
Fluorocarbon refrigerants are synthetic chemicals which usually have a high global warming potential, and some still have the potential to cause damage to the ozone layer as well if released to the atmosphere.