REFRIGERATION
The race to energy efficient refrigeration C
orporate and legislative pressure on organisations to commit to net zero is accelerating quickly, a necessity if the world is to avert climate catastrophe. The good news is that the UK is leading the way, with 60 FTSE 100 companies having committed to the UN’s Race to Zero Campaign by last year’s COP26 conference. Nevertheless, there’s still a long way to go in this particular
race. It’s important to highlight, for example, just how crucial a role refrigeration will play if companies are serious about achieving their environmental targets. The cooling industry accounts for 10 percent of total global carbon emissions, making it a polluter three times larger than aviation and shipping combined.
By Dave Bostock,
Refrigeration division director at Integral.
Wholesale change in the sector could make all the
difference. The UN has estimated that climate-friendly cooling could cut as much as eight years’ worth of carbon emissions and advocates for a mass shift to super-efficient cooling equipment upgrades and ultra-low carbon refrigerants as part of the solution. Around 40-50% of the total power consumption in commercial real estate (CRE) buildings comes from the heating and cooling systems. As the largest consumers of carbon, these systems are often the first to be considered for energy efficiency and low carbon initiatives. However, the task of decarbonising cooling is only getting
more complex. Last year, a UK government report claimed that energy demand for cooling is set to rise even higher over the coming years, potentially matching that of heating by 2060. The historic drivers for cold storage facilities have always been population growth, proximity to population centres, and changes to consumer preferences and spending. Today, those consumer preferences have manifested in the massive and ongoing growth of the on-demand economy. According to the not-for-profit Climate Disclosure Project, more than 90% of the average organisation’s CO2e emissions come from their supply chain. So, as more companies either build on-demand services or adapt their operations for customers in that space, the pressure to decarbonise the cold chain will grow.
The next step Organisations which aim to cut their impact on the
20 July 2022 •
www.acr-news.com
environment must prioritise the move to more environmentally friendly refrigeration. This means focusing on both the indirect and direct emissions associated with cooling (and heating). The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment estimates that indirect emissions account for more than 80 percent of the total CO2e emissions, underlining the potential transformative impact of switching from gas-powered heating sources to environmentally friendly alternative heating sources, such as heat pumps. Progress is being made in this area. The Heat Pump Association said that 67,000 (mostly domestic) heat pumps were installed across the UK last year. That said, changes to indirect emissions will matter much
less if organisations simultaneously ignore the factors that impact their direct emissions, such as the type of refrigerants used, leakage and maintenance. F-gas refrigerants, including HFCs and HFOs, remain a significant obstacle and there must be a significant change in mindset across the industry if we are to break their stranglehold. The good news is that the UK is now phasing down their use with a plan to reduce HFCs by 70% over the next seven years.
No one-size-fits-all solution The obstacles to implementing next-generation refrigerants – both natural solutions and HFOs – are multi-faceted. Their suitability and effectiveness depend on numerous factors, including the temperature, capacity, size and working environment for each application, as well as the operational needs and strategic objectives of every organisation. It’s relatively easy to install natural refrigerants in a large- capacity environment running above 100kW, such as a cold store, food factory, distribution warehouse or large retail facility. It’s much more difficult to and costly to install natural refrigerants in spaces that use between 5-100kW. Here, it’s important to remember the growing significance of the cold chain in the on-demand age. Synthetics may be gaining a bad reputation, but they remain a very efficient and effective option for smaller environments, such as hermetically sealed systems for small cold rooms. However, there is always an exception to the rule and on this occasion it’s high-capacity comfort cooling (+6/+12°C water
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