On 14 May 2014, German NGO DeutscheUmwelthilfe (DUH) hosted a dedicated expert talk in Berlin exploring next steps for foodretailers in response to increased pressure to adopt more sustainable HVAC&Rsolutions resulting from the revision of the European F-Gas Regulation. Theevent attracted leading food retail chains, representatives from Germanministries and environmental agencies and system and component suppliers.

Germanenvironmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) organized a three-hour event“F-Gas Revision and its Impact on the Food Retail Sector” at its premises in Berlin on 14 May 2014.The event was organised to stimulate discussion about concrete steps to betaken by end user and supplying sectors to comply with upcoming restrictions ofthe use of fluorinated gases with high global warming potential (GWP) used inrefrigeration in Europe. A special focus was put on the viability of naturalrefrigerants such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrocarbons (HCs),which feature very low GWP and are non-fluorinated. Around 30 German andAustrian stakeholders in the food retail sector active in environmentallyfriendly and sustainable refrigeration solutions gathered for the event.

UBA outlinesnew obligations of F-Gas Regulation revision

Katja Beckenof the Umwelt Bundesamt (UBA) presented on the F-Gas Revision and its newrequirements. She noted the objectives of the EU F-Gas Revision are toimplement the EU climate goals as well as the Kyoto Protocol, to incentivisethe use of f-gas alternatives and to reduce emissions. Becken discussed indetail the different restrictions and elements of the phase-down of f-gasesaccording the revised regulation. 

In particularnew obligations are being placed on operators. In addition to requiring generalemission reductions, operators will experience new repair obligations and leakchecks, including having to invest in leak detection systems. Businesses willalso have to keep accurate records, according to Article 6 of the regulation.Furthermore, the revised regulation sets forth recovery obligations regardingf-gases. 

Theregulation also puts forth requirements that installation, maintenance,servicing, repair and decommissioning of systems utilising fluorinatedgreenhouse gases are carried about by companies with specific certifications.If a company does not have these certifications, they must either employcertified personnel or hire a certified company. 

European FoodRetail study by shecco

Nina Masson,head of Business Development at shecco was invited to present results from thecompany’s latest European study on sustainability initiatives among Western andNorthern European food retailers. Masson noted that respondents of the study’ssurvey confirmed that the phase-down of HFCs and bans on the use of fluorinatedgases in centralised systems have influenced many of their strategies to optfor natural gases. In Europe there is a widearray of technology options for both CO₂ and hydrocarbon-based refrigerationsystems especially, and each year these technologies continue to develop,whilst economies of scale are growing. 

Masson statedthat a stronger uptake of such technologies may soon be expected from Southernand Eastern Europe, due not only to HFC userestrictions, but also to the ever strengthening business case for naturalrefrigerants.

According tothe survey, CO₂ use isparticularly strong in centralised systems. Furthermore, respondents indicatedthat for a number of areas, such as reliability and safety, efficiency andperformance, and return on investment, among others, natural refrigerants wereon par with or exceeded F-gas solutions. 

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