Launch of online portal for climate-friendly refrigeration

Guidance for planners and operators of refrigeration equipment

Many fluorinated refrigerants cause great damage to the climate and also drive the greenhouse effect. Natural refrigerants offer alternatives which have the same cooling properties while also protecting the climate. Butchers, restaurants, supermarkets, hoteliers, facility management and any others who use air conditioning and refrigeration systems or heat pumps can find out more about applications, funding opportunities and legal issues on the www.kaeltemittel-info.de online portal. Besides the bonus for the climate, the cost argument for switching to climate-friendly is also convincing: The EU F-gas Regulation will cause harmful refrigerants to run in short supply, which is already making them more expensive or even altogether unavailable in future.

The online portal "Klimafreundliche Kälte" is aimed at users and planners of refrigeration systems. Information about environmentally friendly alternatives provides clear explanations about environmentally friendly alternatives, possibilities and restrictions of their use, as well as information about training opportunities and funding programmes. Real-life examples illustrate the energy savings are made by modernisation or new installation of air conditioning, cooling and heat pump systems which also protects the climate. The expert database provides contact information for operators looking for professional planners and engineering firms in their region. In addition, there is a hotline available to users for any further questions.

Further information:

F-gases are fluorinated gases which play a major role in the warming of the atmosphere. They are used as coolants in many air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and some are even much more harmful to the climate than CO2. The aim of the EU F-gas Regulation is to cut their emissions by almost 80 percent by 2030. To reach that aim the availability of refrigerants with high Global Warming Potential (GWP) will be gradually reduced or their use banned entirely. As a result, many HFC refrigerants have already become markedly more expensive. More climate-friendly and energy-efficient alternatives are available for many applications. The Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU) is also being supporting the switch to nonfluorinated alternatives with funding under the National Climate Initiative (NKI). However, funding is only provided to installations which consume less energy thanks to high-efficiency components and systems. Accordingly, their CO2 emissions from the production of electrical energy are also lower.

Launch of online portal for climate-friendly refrigeration | Umweltbundesamt