Globally Active for Natural Refrigerants

• Asociación FRIO CALOR AIRE ACONDICIONADO, S.L (Spain)
• Association Francaise du Froid´s (AFF) (France)
• Nederlandse Vereniging van Ondernemingen op het gebiet van de Koudetechniek en Luchtbehandeling (NVKL) (Netherlands)
• Odessa State Academy of Refrigeration (OSAR) (Ukraine)
• Slovenian Association for Cooling and Air Conditioning (SDHK) (Slovenia)
• Swiss Association for Refrigeration Technology (SVK) (Switzerland)
• Australian Refrigeration Association (Australia)
• Green Cooling Association (Australia)
• Indian Association of Ammonia Refrigeration (AAR) (India)
• International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (iiar) (USA)
• Southern African Refrigerated Distribution Association (SARDA) (South Africa)

Please find below the infographics about the partner organisations of eurammon.

Globally active – eurammon and its partner organisations boost the use of natural refrigerants

Our environment is changing. Harbingers of global warming can already be detected in many places today and are above all a clear indication of one thing: climate change is a global challenge that doesn't stop at national frontiers. Natural refrigerants can make an important contribution to achieving a sustainable, global reduction in CO₂ emissions, as they don't play any role in diminishing the ozone layer and have no or only a very slight influence on the greenhouse effect. The use of natural refrigerants therefore offers huge potential for satisfying ever growing cooling requirements without reinforcing the greenhouse effect any further. Together with proven application areas such as industrial refrigeration, new technologies already make it possible today to use natural refrigerants in small and medium capacity ranges, too. The principle objective of eurammon is to inform operators, plant engineers and planners of the ecological and economic advantages of natural refrigerants. Together with 11 partner organisations from all over the world, the European initiative is dedicated to the increased use of natural refrigerants and is constantly working to establish new collaborations. "We are pleased to announce that we have recently concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Association of Ammonia Refrigeration (AAR)", says Monika Witt, Chairwoman of eurammon.

Knowledge as core competence: sharing experience makes the network strong

While special climate conditions have to be taken into account for refrigeration in India, South Africa and Australia, other countries have special statutory regulations relating to the use of refrigerants. It is a great advantage to be aware of the standards prevailing in different regions of the world, and the particular strength of the global network lies in its ability to share this experience quickly with all partners. The affiliated initiatives, associations and institutions harbour a wide range of technical know-how, from expertise in various application areas for natural refrigerants through to the latest academic findings, thus facilitating constant knowledge exchange and mutual support. The partner organisations of eurammon are:

• Asociación FRIO CALOR AIRE ACONDICIONADO, S.L (Spain)
• Association Francaise du Froid´s (AFF) (France)
• Nederlandse Vereniging van Ondernemingen op het gebiet van de Koudetechniek en Luchtbehandeling (NVKL) (Netherlands)
• Odessa State Academy of Refrigeration (OSAR) (Ukraine)
• Slovenian Association for Cooling and Air Conditioning (SDHK) (Slovenia)
• Swiss Association for Refrigeration Technology (SVK) (Switzerland)
• Australian Refrigeration Association (Australia)
• Green Cooling Association (Australia)
• Indian Association of Ammonia Refrigeration (AAR) (India)
• International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (iiar) (USA)
• Southern African Refrigerated Distribution Association (SARDA) (South Africa)

From Europe to Australia: the partners of eurammon

In Europe, eurammon cooperates with national organisations, such as the NVKL in Zoetermeer. The Dutch Association for companies in refrigeration and HVAC is committed to creating regulations and certifications for handling systems that work with ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons. "Increasing numbers of companies are using natural refrigerants. It is important to know exactly how to use them safely. Therefore, in the Netherlands, only certified employees are allowed to maintain and repair systems with ammonia", says Coen van de Sande from NVKL.

In the USA, eurammon has an important partner in the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR). The institute advocates the increased use of ammonia in particular. "Linking up with partners from other regions of the world and establishing the largest possible pool of knowledge is indispensable in order to draw the necessary global attention to our concerns", explains Bob Port, President of the IIAR.

Operators in many Asian countries mainly use conventional refrigeration applications. India as an emerging country, already strongly advocates using the natural refrigerant ammonia, thus setting standards for the whole continent. "Generally speaking, in India there is already a high degree of awareness that refrigeration applications with ammonia are very environmentally friendly", says P Sudhir Kumar, President, Association of Ammonia Refrigeration (AAR) in Pune, India. Above all, there is a need to lay the groundwork in India and enhance the technical know-how. "One aspect of our work therefore consists in developing regulations and safety standards, and holding training programs to pass on our knowledge to those working with ammonia systems. In this way, we help to expand the use of ammonia and counteract reservations."

The government in Australia is taking a new approach to reducing CO₂ emissions in its country. The new tax on imported synthetic refrigerants indirectly promotes the use of environmentally-friendly alternatives, thus putting the focus on natural refrigerants. The Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA) is committed to boosting the use of natural refrigerants and to informing industry, operators and the government of comprehensive sustainability strategies. Tim Edwards, President of ARA, states that "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution with environmentally-friendly applications is a task that we have to tackle together on a global scale".

Into the future with natural refrigerants

"In recent years we have achieved a great deal together with our partner organisations", summarises Monika Witt, Chairwoman of eurammon. The initiative has joined forces with its partners to attend international trade fairs and events, such as Chillventa or the UNIDO Conference 2013 in Vienna. "Our aim is to intensify existing partnerships and further expand our network – particularly in those countries where there is still such a great need for more information about the safe and efficient use of natural refrigerants", says Witt. "For example, we are assisting our new Indian partner AAR with our expertise when it comes to using the refrigerant ammonia. For us, enhancing awareness of environmentally-friendly refrigerating systems in emerging countries constitutes an important step towards improving the carbon footprint in more and more parts of the world. This means not only to show practical refrigeration solutions but also to promote the safe use of natural refrigerants”.

Climate change, greenhouse effect and global warming – scarcely any other issue is so omnipresent and so controversially discussed in the 21st century. Those who are convinced in doubting that climate change is man-made refer to various eras in the history of our planet where the earth has heated up or cooled down drastically even without any contribution on our part. In future too, they see climate change as the result of natural causes, including among others a changed ellipsoid orbit of the earth around the sun. Climate researchers counter this by saying that the situation today is exacerbated by a not inconsiderable human contribution to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, contributing to the fact that the earth will have warmed up by several degrees Celsius by the end of this century. The main cause of this is seen to be industrial and technological development over the last 150 years. However, at the start of this period, climate change and carbon emissions were unknown factors. They have only gradually come into focus of public awareness, with an increasing effect since the 1960s.

Direct and indirect emissions in refrigeration

"Refrigeration and air-conditioning applications fight on two fronts with their contribution to global warming", explains Monika Witt, Chairwoman of eurammon, the European initiative for natural refrigerants. "On the one hand, direct emissions from refrigerants containing fluorine such as FCs and HFCs make a major contribution to the greenhouse effect. Such emissions are caused for example by leaks in refrigeration systems so that the refrigerant escapes into the atmosphere. On the other hand, the operation of refrigeration systems consumes a large amount of energy consumption and as such makes an additional indirect contribution to carbon emissions. Furthermore, demand for refrigeration applications is increasing. On a global scale, installed refrigeration capacity has nearly tripled since 2001."

Political approach: Kyoto Protocol and the F-Gas Regulation

Environmental agreements such as the international Kyoto Protocol in general or the European F-Gas Regulation in particular are dedicated to the issue of greenhouse-relevant substances and look for solutions on a political level. But it is proving extremely difficult to bring about an understanding on shared climate protection and reduction levels as well as elaborating generally binding regulations, in view of the numerous individual interests of the many states involved. This is the case particularly with the Kyoto Protocol which expires next year. Already at the Cancún climate summit in 2010, the participating countries were not able to reach agreement on a binding structure for a follow-on protocol or on a shared approach to a new way of calculating emission values.

While the international Kyoto Protocol stipulates binding reduction targets for gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride and fluorinated hydrocarbons, the European F-Gas Regulation refers particularly to the latter group and their use in various installations. "The Regulation is of special significance for the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector because F-gases are used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems", explains Monika Witt. To reduce emissions, it regulates for example the placing on the market of F-gases, the monitoring and maintenance of installations in order to avoid leaks, and the initial and advanced training of professionally qualified staff.

The European Commission just recently published a Review Report on the effects and adequacy of the F-Gas Regulation over the last four years. It came to the conclusion that the Regulation has had a quite significant effect on F-gas emissions in Europe. By the end of 2010, such emissions were verifiably reduced by 3 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent.
But this is not enough in order to reach the EU's long-term targets of reducing emissions by 80-95% in 2050
compared to 1990. Only about half of all emissions forecast by 2050 could be avoided altogether, and only if all 27 EU Member States were to consistently apply the current specifications from the F-Gas Regulation and the corresponding provisions for mobile air-conditioning units (MAC Directive). This would mean that the emissions would only remain stable on the current level of 110 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent.
Crux of the matter: Predictions indicate that there is only very little scope for reducing emissions in the framework of applications covered by the F-Gas Regulation – in the magnitude of around 3 million tonnes by 2010 and around 4 million tonnes by 2050. "It is therefore not possible to reach the target simply by continuing as before", says Monika Witt. "Regulations are only expedient when they are adhered. As long as F-Gas consumption is not closely monitored and more important, so non-compliance is fined, it is very unlikely the consumption can be reduced as planned. Stricter controls and harsher penalties for failure to comply with the requirements are therefore necessary."

Natural refrigerants as an environment-friendly alternative

The objective of the F-Gas Regulation should also be to push the development of new technological innovations and alternative technologies. One alternative to F-gases in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems consists of natural refrigerants such as ammonia (NH₃), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrocarbons. "In contrast to the F-gases, these refrigerants offer the advantage of having either no or only a negligible global warming potential", adds Monika Witt. "As a result, their contribution to the greenhouse effect is only marginal, even in the event of leaks or when disposing of the refrigerant." In the framework of its involvement in the expert group reviewing the F-Gas Regulation, eurammon drew attention among others to the high potential for reducing F-gases by using ammonia as a refrigerant for example in stationary air-conditioning systems. The Initiative also emphasised the good thermodynamic properties of NH₃ and hydrocarbons, also for applications in the critical temperature range. There is still widespread opinion that installations operating with natural refrigerants are always less efficient than those using synthetic refrigerants. "This statement must be revised to the effect that solutions with natural refrigerants are at least just as efficient thanks to skilful planning and systematic installation optimisation", states Witt. "NH₃ for example is deemed to be the refrigerant with the best thermodynamic properties, making it one of the most cost- and energy-efficient refrigerants of all."

The eurammon Chairwoman could also envisage explicit incentives when using systems with natural refrigerants as alternative technology, either in form of subsidies or tax deduction. Another proven possibility could be the penalty for refrigerants with high GWP. In September, the Australian government introduced a bill in Parliament for a CO₂ tax that includes taxation on F-gas imports. In Europe, individual countries have already implemented additional measures to intensify the transition to already existing, more environment-friendly technologies. The Scandinavian countries for example levy an additional F-gas tax. One kilogram of R134a costs €17.50 in tax in Denmark, €35.00 in Sweden and even €39.00 in Norway. “It is important to come to harmonized European standards in order to support the safe use of natural refrigerants. Right now, there exist too many obstacles in certain countries”, states Witt.

In addition: putting resources to better use in future

Natural refrigerants are low in costs, available in unlimited quantities and already cover practically all refrigeration applications today. "This must be the basis for optimising and advancing refrigeration technology", advises Witt. "The energy efficiency of installations and components can still be optimised even further by research and development. In the future, it should be possible for installations to produce the energy that they need to operate." But there is still room for improvements to further reduce the energy consumption. “The waste heat produced by installations for example can be used for preparing hot water or for heating. And if an installation does not have to operate at full capacity most of the time, the corresponding output and energy consumption could be regulated with speed-controlled compressors. Moreover, renewable energy sources such as solar energy could be used for power generation and refrigeration to reduce the carbon emissions generated with fossil energy.”