GREEN MATTERS


The ‘greening’ of an industry G


by Professor Dick Powell of Refrigerant Solutions.


reta Thunberg is incorrect in saying that climate scientists are not being listened to by politicians. The problem is that few, if any, leaders have the intellectual expertise to critically assess the climate science. Their dilemma is not their hearing ability, but what to believe when they don’t understand what they are being told.


Do they accept man-made global warming is a reality with predictions now increasingly being confirmed by direct observations? In this case they face the problem of how to transition from economies, based on carbon emission and the consumption of finite resources, to a sustainable society, based on renewable energy and the recycling of essential, but scarce, feedstocks, without causing widespread economic upheaval, political unrest and misery. Alternatively, do they accept that the climate


science is exaggerating global warming and even if it does occur, fossil-fuelled, ‘business as usual’, economic growth will mitigate any problems as they arise? But what all politicians understand is that their worse fate is to be unpopular. The debate is further distorted by the more vociferous environmentalists declaring that greedy, profit-driven Capitalism has caused global warming, so the obvious solution is to immediately establish a socialist state, which should legislate for zero emissions by 2025. The conclusions of climate scientists have become confused with this left-wing aspiration and thus sometimes considered politically biased, driven by an underlying socialist agenda. The reflex action of conservatives has thus been to reject the climate science as a left-wing plot. But after three decades of debate, humanity


now appears to have made up its global mind, committing to achieve net zero carbon emissions sometime around 2050. Obviously, this has profound consequences for the HVAC and refrigeration industry. But this is not a new experience for an industry, which has already been addressing environmental concerns for nearly 50 years starting with ozone depletion. It has adapted to evolving regulatory legislation, which has sometimes hindered progress by lacking consistency. Various examples can be cited… Trump’s back-tracking on environmental matters in the USA; the EU not enforcing its regulations with adequate policing of HFC smuggling and imposing a quota system favouring large producers but hindering the innovative ability of smaller


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companies to market new products. The industry would appreciate a coherent regulatory strategy to provide the market stability between now and 2050 to develop new low carbon emission technologies. My crystal ball is probably as cloudy as many others, but I’ll venture a few speculations. Adapting to a low carbon economy will be


mainly based on existing commercial technologies, or those already demonstrated as viable, but not yet exploited. While I do not dismiss efforts to find new cooling and heat pumping methods, it takes time to move from the laboratory proof of concept to large scale manufacture. But according to the climate science, time is not on our side. Vapour compression technology will thus continue to dominate our industry – the question is what refrigerants will be used? In my view, the target must be GWP <10, nonflammable and low toxicity. But they will require adapting current equipment designs to at least match, if not surpass, the energy efficiencies and capacities achieved by existing commercial refrigerants. I have no especial bias for or against fluorine or non-fluorine refrigerants. All options must be allowed – but I consider that the HVAC and refrigeration industry should only adopt technologies that are simultaneously safe and minimise environmental impact. I shall be heretical by saying the first


consideration is not the optimisation of air conditioning units but planning towns and cities to minimise temperatures. Urban areas can be several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside – the ‘heat island effect’ – caused by buildings absorbing and re-radiating solar energy. During a heat wave, higher than average night-time temperatures for five nights or more, can lead to excess mortality, especially among the very young, the aged, the sick and the poor. In planning new cities, or districts within present


conurbations, temperatures can be reduced by various means: avoiding the disruption of prevailing winds by densely packed tower blocks, including green spaces, and widespread tree planting. Recent announcements of highly reflective white paints for roofs to reduce solar gain, is relatively simple technology that can be applied in the short term. Air conditioning units will still be required to remove internal heat, generated by people and equipment, and ventilation, but taking a holistic approach to the built environment is to be recommended. Poorer urban dwellers are more affected by heat waves because they presently lack


a/c units and thus experience excess mortality. Arguably, every home should be provided with at least one air-conditioned room as a ‘cool’ refuge, especially at night. Air conditioned public buildings might be opened as emergency shelters. Although north western Europe has lower temperatures than the tropics, heat waves still cause problems. In the UK, our main concern is not domestic summer cooling but winter heating to which heat pumps are predicted to make a significant contribution after gas boilers are banned in 2025. However, the provision for operating heat pumps in reverse mode to cool at least one room would help protect the vulnerable against heat waves. While foodstuff refrigeration will continue to play a major role in feeding the global population, reducing carbon emissions from food production will impact the ‘food cold chain’. A significant reduction in meat consumption is expected to decrease livestock methane emissions with a corresponding increase in plant food consumption. Air freight is likely to be heavily taxed to limit flights thus impacting the economics of out-of- season consumption of fruits and vegetables in richer temperate countries. Perhaps we would limit ourselves to local seasonal produce, which we relied upon in the past. Although we might find this just an inconvenience, it would destroy the livelihoods of poorer people, for example in east Africa. Maybe the answer is for their crops to be frozen and exported in bulk by land and sea? This implies local freezing centres close to farms powered by locally generated renewable power. Large-scale frozen food stores might be integrated with energy storage by using liquid air as a combined energy storage medium/refrigerant. Should this prove viable, then it might displace ammonia refrigeration, a key cooling technology for 150 years. I feel on safe ground in assuming that the


contribution of the HVAC and refrigeration industry will continue to play an important role in mitigating the effects of global warming on people while simultaneously reducing its environmental impact. Maybe we should view air conditioning not as just a lifestyle comfort for the rich, but as a necessity for all, in the same way we consider that everybody, both rich and poor, has a right to a lifesaving Covid-19 vaccination? Personally, I shall follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln: "The most reliable way to predict the future is to invent it" by continuing the development of novel, low GWP refrigerant blends.


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