Atmosphere 2009, the international conference on natural refrigerants, will be held in the European capital Brussels on 19-20 October to bring together industry experts, the finance community and policy makers to discuss CO₂, ammonia and hydrocarbons. In an interview, Nina Burhenne, Marketing Manager, shecco, provides insights into the sector on the way to Post-Kyoto discussions in Copenhagen this December.

Atmosphere takes place in the European capital, Brussels. Why Brussels? How was this project born and what explains its success so far?

Nina Burhenne: It all started at a very small scale. shecco is one partner of NARECO2, a pan-European project to share best practice and technical knowledge regarding the use of carbon dioxide as a natural refrigerant in heating, cooling, and refrigeration. The meeting in October was meant to conclude the 2 years project, with an exclusive focus on CO2 (R744). But shortly after, and realising that interest in an international conference in Europe’s decision making centre Brussels was growing, we decided to broaden the scope from just a small meeting to what is has become now: an international conference on all three major natural refrigerants CO2, ammonia, and hydrocarbons.

Why Brussels? Because Europe’s stance on forging a new global climate policy matters and here in Brussels decisions are being made, as we speak. Where we want to head when it comes to finding climate-friendly alternatives to high global warming and ozone depleting substances? Atmosphere 2009 tries to answer this question by showing where natural refrigerants are being used, in different countries and in a wide variety of applications. We are happy to see that more than 150 persons from all around the world have followed our call to exchange best practice and discuss policy frameworks, industry moves, and financial mechanisms that can help drive the market for natural refrigerants.

Back to where we started, the NARECO2 project will be officially concluded on Tuesday, when participants will receive the probably most extensive manual on the use of CO2 as a refrigerant in the EU. On 700 pages it explains how and where to best employ R744, and also outlines the political frameworks governing its usage in Europe.

The Conference is betting heavily on spreading the word on the advantages of natural refrigerants, focusing on CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons. Which segments will have more weight and what specific activities will be promoted to this end?

Nina Burhenne: Yes, the main purpose of Atmosphere 2009 is to get policy, finance community, and industry talking about the opportunities for natural refrigerants. However, this question is very difficult to answer, as we are talking about three completely different substances with different chemical properties, advantages and weaknesses. The only thing they have in common is that they all represent the best environmental choice when we look at the direct emissions. And that they all have a huge technological potential. Ammonia traditionally has had a stronghold in large refrigeration applications, while hydrocarbons is keeping our food cool in more than 350 million home fridges worldwide. Carbon dioxide is well established in hot water heat pumps, is making inroads into the supermarket refrigeration market, and discussed as an alternative in Mobile Air Conditioning. Ammonia has been re-discovered as a most energy-efficient solution for heat pumps, hydrocarbons are used in air conditioning, chillers, and other light commercial applications, and CO2 is discussed in many more applications than currently available.

The conference tries to cover as many applications as possible. Today there will be dedicated workshop sessions for each refrigerant to explore ammonia, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide from as many different angles. Manufacturers, trade associations, and end-users will have the word to report about their experiences and future plans.

In your opinion, how will the global refrigerants market evolve?

Nina Burhenne: Now, regarding the evolution of global markets, also here we have to distinguish between the developing and the developed world. We are facing a situation where ODS will be banned in the developed world, with emerging economies following soon. We are hearing more and more voices demanding a phase-out scheme for high global warming HFCs. All natural refrigerants, and here we can also include water and air, are cheap and readily available. If governments and the industry itself realise that switching from one chemical to another is better, simply because it proves to be dangerous for our planet and our health after some years, we will hopefully come to a situation where natural refrigerants can find their proper place. We need to transfer knowledge from one country experienced with certain applications and refrigerants to less experienced ones. As the margin of profit for natural refrigerants does not lie in the refrigerant itself the resistance from the chemical industry will remain strong and it is up to politicians and industry to make a decisive choice. I believe that we cannot afford to wait much longer to start a global transfer towards natural refrigerants, as ever more dooming outlooks are given by climate scientists worldwide.

What makes Atmosphere 2009 different from other events?

Nina Burhenne: Atmosphere 2009 is different from other events in the field of natural refrigerants as it will strike a balance between the policy, technology, and finance side of things. What we try to do is show where natural refrigerants can already be successfully employed today. Atmosphere is focused on best practice, on real-life examples, on success stories. We are proud to say that we will have the world’s first car with a CO2-based air conditioning system used for daily government transport at Atmosphere 2009. The German Federal Environment Agency will put this car at the disposal of participants for a test ride. We will also have one of the first Chinese air conditioning units running on hydrocarbons operating live on site.

Atmosphere 2009 also wants to highlight the technical, political, and economic barriers non-fluorinated gases are still facing in many countries. Two surveys conducted over the last weeks have brought an overwhelming input from governments, engineers, end-users…, and what we could clearly extract from the results was that many people would be willing to use natural refrigerants but they either lack more detailed technical information, direct political and financial support, or face other trade barriers put up to impede a borderless transfer of knowledge and technology options between developed and developing countries. The conference will try to put clarity to all of this, setting natural refrigerants in the right political, economic, and social context. 

Atmosphere 2009 is on the way to Post-Kyoto discussions in Copenhagen this December. What are your main goals?

Nina Burhenne: The date, end of October, was deliberately chosen as a milestone on the way towards global climate talks in Egypt in November, and Copenhagen in December. The HVAC&R industry is meeting to discuss what are the options after a ban of ozone-depleting substances and likely future phase-out schemes for fluorinated gases. We have invited speakers from the United Nations Environment Programme, Technology & Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP), World Bank, European Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the German Environment Ministry. A Member of the British Parliament will outline what financial and ecological benefits the elimination of HFCs in large supermarkets could bring for the UK.

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