Food & drinks giants line-up with green activists on HFC reduction 

The conference highlighted the commitments made by Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Unilever Ice Cream to phase out HFCs from their commercial refrigeration systems:

• Coca-Cola is currently switching to CO2-based refrigeration as an alternative it believes to be "safe, reliable and more energy efficient" than HFC equipment. The company says that 50% of its suppliers have already switched out of HFC foam and that, as of 2005, only equipment using non-HFC blown foam will be certified for purchase in the company's system
• Unilever Ice Cream has chosen Hydrocarbon (HC) as its preferred alternative to HFCs. As of 2005, Unilever has committed to buy only HFC-free ice-cream cabinets and expects to have already about 80,000 on the market by them. The company says its businesses currently operate some 2 millions freezers around the world.
• McDonald's has run a pilot-programme in one of its restaurants in Denmark working only on HFC-free refrigeration and will continue development work and testing in 2004-2005. According to Greenpeace, Mc Donald's has undertaken to convert 30,000 of its restaurants to alternative refrigeration in a timeframe that is still to be defined.

In parallel, environmentally-friendly refrigeration technologies were showcased as possible alternative to HFCs.

• Hydrocarbons (HC) are currently used mainly in domestic refrigeration and have been available in the EU and Asia for a number of years. They are now being introduced in commercial refrigerations.
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2) refrigeration systems work similarly to conventional systems and one believed to offer excellent opportunities for commercial refrigeration.
• The Stirling Cycle - running on helium and radically different to the cooling cycle which traditionally runs on F-gases or alternatives such as CO2 or HC - have been used in cryogenics for a long time. Its use in commercial refrigeration represents a new development particularly for smaller-size.
• Thermoacoustic cooling
• Solar-powered refrigerators

 

In a speech given at the conference, Dr. Gerd Leipold, Executive Director at Greenpeace, underlined the "scandal" that HFCs were not being replaced despite climate-friendly alternatives being available "at virtually no cost". He described the EU's regulation on F-gases as "shameful" as it does not recognise the availability of such alternatives: "EU Member States must significantly strengthen this regulation by supporting phase-out dates for all uses of HFCs in refrigeration," Leipold said.

He praised the initiative of Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Unilever Ice Cream as showing what is possible in the marketplace and "teaching timid politicians what is technically possible and economically viable". "There is no excuse for companies not to follow the lead" shown by these companies, he said, adding that only government action could force more businesses to follow them.

The Dutch State Secretary for the Environment, Pieter Van Geel, said that technology could "partly solve the greenhouse gas emissions problem". "Eco-innovation, he said, is good not only for the environment, but also for economic growth and employment". Noting that large-scale use of natural refrige rants had become economically viable over the past years, he added that politicians "cannot ask companies to stop using HFCs" but only encourage them. "I understand the concerns of the business community," he said.

Rajendra Shende, Head of Energy and OzonAction Branch, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) welcomed the initiative from the three companies: "The future of sustainable refrigeration lies in this type of forward-looking technology innovation," he said.