Page 14 - Climate Control News magazine February 2022

In Focus
Research calculates
benefits of hydrocarbons
NIDEC GLOBAL APPLIANCE R&D MANAGER, JOZEF SEDLIAK, EXPLAINS WHY HYDROCARBONS ARE THE BEST OPTION TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE REFRIGERATION INDUSTRY.
ABOVE: Commercial refrigeration is a significant contributor to global emissions.
LEFT: Nidec’s global R&D manager, Jozef Sedliak.
WHEN IT COMES to dealing with the world’s carbon (CO2) emissions and their impact on global warming the refrigeration industry has an important role to play.
This industry is essential to the preservation of food, beverages, medicine, vaccines, lab sam- ples and the list about its importance to man- kind goes on and on. It means quality of life, comfort and health. But, on the other hand, it is responsible for approximately 10 per cent of glob- al CO2 emissions, according to some estimates researched by Birmingham University.
The study also says that “around 20 to 25 per cent of CO2 emissions from the cooling sector are produced by leaks of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant gases (‘F-gases’). The other 75 per cent of the cooling sector’s emissions, according to the same study, is from energy consumption.
So, at Nidec Global Appliance, holder of the re- frigeration solutions brand Embraco, we decided to calculate how much the migration to natural refrigerants can contribute to this fight. We found out that summing the last 11 years, from 2010 to 2021, the evolution in the mix of Embraco
compressor models sold in the world, gradually migrating from hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs) to natural refrigerants, has allowed the potential emissions saving of 1,568,025 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) from being released into the atmosphere.
That is the same as taking 341,000 cars off the streets for a year, according to the online calcula- tor of the United States Environmental Protec- tion Agency.
The calculation considers the migration from the two main types of HFCs in refrigeration equipment:
- From R404A, the main refrigerant gas used in commercial refrigeration for decades, with a global warming potential (GWP) of 3,920, to the hydrocarbon R290, a natural refrigerant with a GWP of 3.
- From R134a, used in residential refrigeration (with a GWP of 1,430), to the hydrocarbon R600a, another natural refrigerant also with a GWP of 3.
The percentage of Embraco sold compressors running on natural refrigerants (hydrocarbons) has evolved from 40 per cent of the total in 2010
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
14