HVAC and recycling systems customers

A number of HFC refrigerants and low GWP HFO alternatives could be banned under new PFAS chemical restrictions proposed to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The first refrigerant destruction facility in New Zealand is to be built in Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island.

Researchers at Chicago University have designed a building material that changes its infrared colour and how much heat it absorbs or emits based on the outside temperature.

On the European year of skills, this event represented a very timely opportunity to discuss the importance of upskilling in the heat pump sector, being the shortage of skilled workers one of the main barriers to the roll out of heat pumps.

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

Engie New Ventures, the energy provider’s venture capital subsidiary, has invested in Alpinov X, a Grenoble-based start-up using water as the refrigerant in a new cooling technology.

Daikin has supplied a further eight water-cooled chillers to the CERN nuclear research facility for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider which is due to be operational from 2029.

A Canadian safety authority is urging systems operators to employ licensed refrigeration contractors when carrying out work on ammonia systems following a fatal leak last year.

The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) is calling for EU support for skills development and training for the heat pump sector.

The huge amount of water injected by the cataclysmic Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption into Earth’s atmosphere last year will temporarily affect the protective ozone layer.

The EU’s industry and energy committee has voted through changes to the F-gas revision which could allow more time for industry to meet the EU’s climate and energy ambitions.

Thermocold introduced the new Airtop rooftop models, expanding its rooftop air-to-air heat pump portfolio. The Airtop rooftop range feature low global warming potential (GWP) R-454B refrigerant and variable speed compressors to deliver the performance and sustainability required by small to medium commercial and process applications.

The Tecochill Hybrid-Drive air-cooled chiller from Tecogen can draw its power from two energy sources – natural gas and electric power.

Full details of the PFAS restrictions proposed by five European countries, which could include bans on some lower GWP HFC/HFO refrigerants, will be published on February 7.

In addition to a next generation Altherma 4, Daikin Europe is set to launch new heat pumps running on lower GWP refrigerant R454C and propane (R290).

At the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, held in Kigali from 10 to 15 October 2016, the Parties adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 4 of article 9 of the 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, a further amendment to the Montreal Protocol as set out in Annex I to the report of the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the Parties (Decision XXVIII/1).

As the Earth warms at a dangerous pace, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-led Cool Coalition, with the United Arab Emirates’ incoming presidency of COP28, announced the development of a Global Cooling Pledge and a “Cool COP Menu of Actions” that will feature prominently at COP28. The Menu will be defined over the coming months in close collaboration with partners including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

Rwanda is considering a new mechanism to ease access to affordable and eco-friendly fridges and air conditioners that are not harmful to the Earth’s ozone layer and causing climate change.

Trane has extended its adoption of lower GWP A2L refrigerant R454B with its new Airfinity S rooftop air-to-air heat pumps.

The ozone layer is on track to recover within four decades, with the global phaseout of ozone-depleting chemicals already benefitting efforts to mitigate climate change. This is the conclusion of a UN-backed panel of experts, presented today at the American Meteorological Society’s 103rd annual meeting. Examining novel technologies such as geoengineering for the first time, the panel warns of unintended impacts on the ozone layer.