Transport

The Republic of Moldova will gradually reduce, starting 1 January 2024, the import and use of fluorinated greenhouse gases and will replace them with natural cooling agents, according to the provisions of the new law on fluorinated greenhouse gases, voted in the final reading by the Parliament. The law was developed with the support of the EU4Climate project, financed by the European Union and implemented by UNDP Moldova and is to enter into force six months after its publication. Until now, the import and use of F-gases was not regulated in Moldova.

Thermo King announced that the first trailer featuring the new Advancer-e engineless and electric trailer refrigeration unit started operations in the Netherlands.

Boasting high refrigeration capacities, demonstrated fuel savings of 20-25% and reduced emissions for greater sustainability and regulatory compliance, Carrier Transicold’s new X4™ 7700 trailer refrigeration unit is now available through the company’s North America dealer network.

China has been one of the world’s leading automotive markets for many years, with more than 408 million vehicles on its roads in August 2022. At the same time, China is actively limiting car exhaust emissions and gradually tightening restrictions on them.

The International Energy Agency estimated that greenhouse gas emissions from MAC systems globally were around 420 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2015. That was about 1 percent of global energy-related CO₂ emissions that year. However, if not improved, MAC systems will become a larger share of the climate impacts of vehicles in the years ahead, as we decarbonize the fuels they run on and other components.

Bitzer, the refrigeration and air conditioning specialist presents its SPEEDLITE ELV52 scroll compressor, which was specially developed for electric buses and rail vehicles.

Thermo King has introduced a CO₂ version of its Athenia MkII heat pump for electric and hybrid buses.

Austrian technology start-up pbx will launch its ecos M24 propane (R290)-based refrigeration unit for light commercial electric vehicles (EVs) at the IAA Transportation conference, which takes place on September 20–25 in Hanover, Germany.

Following devastating floods in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Toyota suffered massive damage to its plant and inventory. Not wanting to compromise on their quality with damaged goods, Toyota took the decision to scrap 4500 vehicles that had been affected by the flood damage.

As part of an effort to educate companies and organizations in the Philippines about sustainable cold chain technologies, Carrier Transicold, part of U.S.-based Carrier, has donated a 20ft (6m)-long CO₂ (R744) NaturaLINE refrigerated marine reefer unit to the Cold Chain Innovation Hub (CCI-Hub) in Manila.

PSA Singapore operates the world’s largest container transhipment hub in Singapore, handling 37.2 million TEUs of containers in 2021. With connections to 600 ports globally, shippers have access to daily sailings to every major port in the world, operating 24/7 all year round. Beyond port operations, PSA also offers cargo solutions to customers operating in advanced manufacturing, cold chain, e- commerce, and energy and chemicals.

German car manufacturer Volkswagen attributes the efficiency gains and resulting improved range of its first electric SUV coupe, the ID.5, to the CO₂ (R744) heat pump used for its mobile heating and air-conditioning.

The newly founded German transport refrigeration specialist ECOOLTEC Grosskopf has released an electrically driven transport refrigeration unit for trucks, including semi-trailers and rigid vehicle bodies, that uses a small charge of hydrocarbon propene (R1270) as the primary refrigerant, together with CO₂ (R744) in the secondary circuit.

In a three-year research study testing the viability of German manufacturer Liebherr’s CO₂ (R744) air-conditioning system on a long-distance passenger train, the “eco2jet” project showed an energy efficiency improvement of 30%.

Functioning prototypes show how CO₂ (R744) can be successfully used in applications such as bottle coolers, refrigerated containers and mobile air-conditioning without increasing costs or compromising on efficiency as compared to HFCs, according to Stefan Elbel, CEO of Creative Thermal Solutions (CTS), the Urbana, Illinois (U.S.), HVAC&R research company.

Carrier Transicold is to make lower GWP refrigerant R452A the standard gas for all new transport refrigeration units in North America from October.

A CO₂ air conditioning system from German manufacturer Liebherr has been successfully tested in a passenger train in Austria.

Transport refrigeration company Ecooltec Grosskopf has developed a new generation of electrically-driven transport refrigeration unit using CO₂ and the hydrocarbon refrigerant R1270 (propene).

A new Daikin refrigerant announced last year as a more efficient alternative to R1234yf in electric vehicles has been designated as R474A by ASHRAE and given an A2L classification.

The global HVAC-R market was valued at $193.6 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $257.9 billion in 2027, following a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period 2022-2027. The growth in the global HVAC-R market is expected to be driven by increasing population and rapid urbanization, drastic change in weather conditions, and emerging innovation in HVAC-R.