Although the successful application cases of natural refrigerants increase year by year, there are still many obstacles to a stronger affirmation of these technologies and, apart from perhaps the case of domestic refrigeration in Europe, out of total applications natural refrigeration is not the dominant technology.

What elements are necessary then for a greater affirmation of these technologies which are, in hindsight, the only ones capable of ensuring stability against any legislation?

Armin Hafner, professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim in Norway, who spoke at the Green Cooling Summit, tries to summarize the essential elements to facilitate the affirmation of these technologies, elements which, in hindsight, are not of a technical nature, indicating the maturity reached by these technologies:

Training, and the transfer of know-how are essential to be able to ensure a secure affirmation of natural refrigerants. It is necessary to train technicians able to install and manage the systems and above all able to advise their customers on the considerations to be made in choosing a new system. Natural refrigeration allows you to look into the future in complete safety, without exposing yourself to the risk of having to deal again with shortages of refrigerants, new bans, etc. The question of the flammability, toxicity or high working pressures of some natural refrigerants also fits closely into the question of training. There are none of these characteristics that cannot be managed in total safety and for which there has not been adequate technological development. Everything therefore lies in having the skills to be able to face these characteristics. In order to acquire them, training is an essential element.

User awareness. In choosing a refrigerant, the user or the owner of the system must know what he is going to face in terms of costs during the life cycle, costs of the refrigerant, disposal costs at the end of the system's life. In general, it is necessary for the user to know the real costs of managing the system.

Beyond GWP and ODS. According to Armin Hafner, it should become mandatory to consider for each refrigerant not only its GWP and ODS value but also the general impact on the environment, both of the molecule itself and of its degradation products in atmosphere, and of the secondary products that are formed during its production. This is an important consideration, especially in light of recent studies conducted by various institutions that show how the production of some refrigerants or their degradation in the ecosystem generates molecules that are anything but eco-sustainable. Finally, speaking of energy efficiency, we should consider not only the energy savings that the use of a refrigerant allows to obtain but also the energy needed to produce it. If this is such as to cancel the former, it will hardly be possible to speak of a sustainable refrigerant.

Devote funds to be able to face the initial cost of the system. Often natural refrigerant solutions are not chosen due to their initial costs (CAPEX), higher than those of traditional solutions, despite the fact that the operational costs can be much lower (OPEX) and advantageous for the plant operator. Defining financial instruments by the World Bank, the Multilateral Funds, the national governments, to address the initial investment, to be repaid later with the savings in the management of the system, could facilitate the affirmation of natural refrigerant systems.

The Green Cooling Summit was held online at the end of May and was hosted by UBA - the German Environment Agency, by GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Society for International Cooperation) - and by the German Ministry for the Environment.