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Opinion
NatRefs: Still in a Class by Themselves Natural refrigerants check key boxes for owners and operators who are preparing for a dynamic future and a rapidly changing equipment landscape. – By Andre Patenaude next 30 years. To date, 92 countries have backed this initiative. (See page 18.)
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or more than a decade, natural refrigerants have factored prominently in the search for environmentally friendly refrigeration in both commercial and industrial sectors. During this time, we’ve seen the introduction of propane (R290) in microdistributed, self-contained cases; increased global adoption of CO 2 (R744) in centralized systems; and the emergence of ultralow-charge ammonia (R717), by itself and integrated with CO 2 in cascade systems. And in this new decade, we will likely continue to see the use of natural refrigerants progress along these established lanes. The drivers for natural refrigerant adoption haven’t changed significantly since their introduction. Because legacy refrigeration strategies rely on the use of high-GWP HFC refrigerants, companies with sustainability objectives or regulatory imperatives have been the first to make the transition to lower-GWP alternatives. Among these options, natural refrigerants are considered immune from regulatory-mandated GWP caps. The phase down of HFCs remains a focus of environmental regulations around the globe. For example, the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol calls for a gradual phase down in both the production and consumption of HFCs by more than 80% over the
Accelerate Magazine // March 2020
Some national and regional initiatives are taking a more aggressive approach toward meeting what appears to be the ideal target of 150 GWP for refrigerants. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing a 150-GWP limit on new stationary refrigeration systems containing more than 50 pounds of refrigerant, starting January 1, 2022. The European F-Gas Regulation will prohibit the use of refrigerants above 150 GWP in new multi-compressor commercial refrigeration equipment in systems above 40 kW (11.4 tons), starting in 2022. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is taking a more step-wise approach to its HFC phase down, but it also has lower-GWP targets in its sights. Throughout the relatively short history of refrigeration, it’s been said that there’s no such thing as a perfect refrigerant — and that’s certainly the case with natural options. But natural refrigerants check key boxes for owners and operators as they prepare for a dynamic future and a rapidly changing equipment landscape. Natural refrigerants are among the very few alternatives capable of meeting some of these more aggressive GWP targets. R290 has a GWP of 3; CO 2 has a GWP of 1; and ammonia has a GWP of 0. From environmental and regulatory perspectives, this puts them in a class by themselves.