Greenpeace China Offers Natural Refrigeration Solutions to the 2008 China Refrigeration Expo

The three organizations showcased various applications of natural refrigerants, including the hydrocarbon cooler, the CO2 cooler, the hydrocarbon ice-cream cabinet and the hydrocarbon and CO2 compressors. The booth was highly frequented at all times. Visitors were representatives mainly from Chinese companies, associations and universities, but also a few representatives from other Asian countries and Australia. Most questions were related to the showcased compressors and the natural refrigerators (mainly technical questions) and their availability in the market.

The booth of the three organizations showed the feasibility of the commercialization of natural refrigerants in China, and thus was regarded as one of the top 13 featured booths of the 2008 China Refrigeration Expo. According to the initial statistics of the expo organizer—Beijing International Exhibition Center, this year around 15463 exhibitors from 31 countries were represented at the expo and around 38350 people from 101 countries attended the expo.

Moreover, the three organizations held a joint public seminar about “Using Natural Refrigerants—Lessons China can draw from Europe”. Representatives from UNEP , Greenpeace China , GTZ Proklima , EU and German Government , Shanghai Jiaotong University, Unilever China and Embraco respectively gave speeches on why and how natural refrigerants are better than HCFCs and HFCs.

Representatives from all major Chinese manufacturers of refrigeration appliances attended the seminar, as well as representatives from Chinese government entities and universities. Also several European and Japanese manufacturers of natural refrigerants appliances and compressors, such as Danfoss & Sanyo, were sending their representatives. Participants found the presentations were useful and overall the résumé and feedback to the seminar was solely positive.

All in all, Greenpeace China, GTZ Proklima and the Refrigerants, Naturally! Initiative offered a natural refrigeration solution to the 2008 China Refrigeration Expo, which fulfilled their objectives.

China Refrigeration Expo

The 19th International Exhibition for Refrigeration, Air-conditioning, Heating and Ventilation, Frozen Food Processing, Packaging and Storage (China Refrigeration Expo) in Shanghai, China is recognized as one of the leading HVAC&R exhibitions in the world. It is frequented by major refrigeration and air conditioning equipment manufactures, end-users, as well as policymakers and other stakeholders in the field.

This is the first time an environmental NGO, a government body, and an industry alliance will work together in China to demonstrate that natural refrigerants are sustainable, energy efficient and ozone- and climate-friendly alternatives to HCFCs, which should gain preference over HFCs. The partners met at our exhibition booth, where various applications of natural refrigerants will be showcased. The equipment is available now in China and elsewhere, and companies are testing it with a focus on large scale implementation when technology is proven to be available, cost effective and reliable.

For more information on our booth and seminars-including the seminar agenda—please Refer to our invitation. Please also find more information on GTZ Proklima and the Refrigerants, Naturally! Alliance by clicking onto the respective names of the organizations.