A guide for refrigeration manufacturers providing arguments and guidance for changing directly from HFCs to natural refrigerants in energy efficient systems, rather than focusing on intermediate HFC-substitutes (such as HFOs).
This guide adresses in particular the manufacturers of commercial and industrial equipment. The aim is to:
- introduce international agreements and the regulatory landscape in key global regions (i.e. existing and upcoming F-gas policies),
- present availabe environmentally-friendly alternatives as direct replacement for HFCs and other chemical blends currently used in the refrigeration sector,
- provide information on relevant technical and economic aspects to be considered when converting to environment-friendly alternatives, e.g. for product redesign, new components and planning product line adaptations,
- provide practical application examples to demonstrate the technical feasibility of alternative technologies using natural refrigerants, conversion benefits and remaining challenges.
The recommendations intend to support manufacturers to be ahead of upcoming phase-out legislations, and to shorten their learning curve by providing, based on experiences, relevant information on potential technical and financial impacts when converting to natural refrigerants. This will allow RAC manufacturers to maintain their competitiveness in the global market and national governments to fulfil their commitments under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.