Refrigerants, Naturally!
General
| Name of initiative | Refrigerants, Naturally! |
|---|---|
| LPAA initiative | Yes |
| NAZCA Initiative | Yes |
| Website address | http://www.refrigerantsnaturally.com |
| Related initiatives | |
| Starting year | 2004 |
| End year | |
| Secretariat | Refrigerants, Naturally! Secretariat
c/o HEAT GmbH Seilerbahnweg 14 61462 Königstein info@refrigerantsnatrually.org |
| Organisational structure | Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Red Bull and Unilever. Supported by UN Environment and Greenpeace |
| Geographical coverage | Global |
| Name of lead organisation | Refrigerants, Naturally! e.V. |
| Type of lead organisation | NGO/Civil Society, Network/Consortium/Partnership, International organisation |
| Location/Nationality of lead organisation | Germany |
Description
| Description | Global initiative of companies committed to substituting harmful fluorinated gases ("F-gases", such as CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs) with natural refrigerants. Supported by UNEP and Greenpeace. |
|---|---|
| Objectives | Strategy:
-Promote a shift in the point-of-sale cooling technology towards natural refrigerants with a low-or non-global Warming Potential and a zero Ozone Depletion Potential; that is safe; reliable and cost effective. - Do this whilst Improving or (at least) equalling Energy efficiency compared to existing fluorocarbon based technology. - Provide a platform and a critical mass in communicating with the refrigeration technology supply chain; with other users; governments and civil society. By pursuiing this strategy, the member companies are reducing their impact on climate change by: -replacing synthetic with natural refrigerants -using HFC-free insulation material -reducing the energy consumption of new refrigeration equipment. |
| Activities | -Research and development including testing of pilot equipment is on-going and relevant information is regularly exchanged within the network. |
| One or two success stories achieved | Refrigerants, Naturally! is a success story in itself. The unique collaboration of direct market competitors and particularly the support from UNEP and Greenpeace, make Refrigerants, Naturally! as unique and successful as they are. The members are all committed to their self set strict goals on phasing out F-gases and encourage each other by sharing technology best practice examples and supporting each other on market entering strategies for natural refrigerant systems. The one of a kind collaboration with UNEP and Greenpeace allows the members to actively get involved in policy stakeholder meetings at an international level. The RefNat members spread the information of their best practice examples and show that transitioning to natural refrigerant systems is technically feasible and the most sustainable long term solution. RefNat has also received the US EPA Climate Protection Award and the Roy Family Award for Environmental Partnership. |
Monitoring and Impacts
| Function of initiative | Implementation, Technical dialogue, Political dialogue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activity of initiative | Technical operational implementation (ex-post), Knowledge dissemination and exchange, Policy planning and recommendations | ||||
| Indicators |
Technical operational implementation (ex-post) — Total Mitigation
| ||||
| Goals | Refrigerants, Naturally! is an initiative of international companies taking action against global warming and ozone layer depletion. We replace harmful greenhouse gases in our point-of-sales cooling and freezing units with climate-friendly natural refrigerants. Our goal is to make them the preferred cooling technology – in a safe, reliable and cost effective manner.
Refrigerants, Naturally! supports a regulatory and political framework that encourages investment in climate-friendly technologies. All our members are working on different technological options and are at different stages of market implementation. Nevertheless, we share a commitment to eliminate fluorinated gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrochlorofluorcarbons (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), in our point-of-sale cooling appliances. We are convinced that alternative technologies on the market are safe, efficient and reliable, whilst offering environmental benefits. Our members pursure this strategy, and are reducing their impact on climate change by:- replacing synthetic with natural refrigerants- using HFC-free insulation material-reducing the energy consumption of new refrigeration equipment.Based on first-hand experience Refrigerants, Naturally! promotes best-practices in climate-friendly technologies among other companies. We encourage them to join our initiative and offer our expertise for handling the change. | ||||
| Comments on indicators and goals | By the end of 2017 installed 7.25 million units using natural refrigerants worldwide, preventing of 43.5 million metric tons CO2 eq.
New Policy: Member companies urged political decision makers to amend the Montreal Protocol to include the control of hydrofluorocarbons in the Kigali Amendment. | ||||
| How will goals be achieved | |||||
| Have you changed or strenghtened your goals | |||||
| Progress towards the goals | By the end of 2017 – 13 years after the start of Refrigerants, Naturally! – we have collectively placed 7.25 million units using natural refrigerants worldwide. These reductions have prevented the emission of around 43.5 million metric tons of CO2. | ||||
| How are you tracking progress of your initiative | Success is tracked by the number of F-gas free units on the market at a global scale. This gives us concrete impact results on avoided CO2 eq. The members regularly report back to the secretariat with current numbers.
Non trackable impact is the impact the initiative has on the industry, by leading with example and on standards and regulations, impacted by our active work together with various governments and standard committees. | ||||
| Available reporting | News and updates on the website. |
Participants
| Participants | Number | Names |
|---|---|---|
| Members | 16 | |
| Companies | 14 | Agrobio (Portugal),Bitzer (Belgium),Bundesinnungsverband des Deutschen Kälteanlagenbauerhandwerks (Germany),Bundesverband Naturkost Naturwaren (Germany),Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Germany),ECOS (Belgium),ENTROPYCS (Netherlands),Heat international (Germany),itho daalderop (Netherlands),KNVvK Young Cool (Netherlands),STEK (Netherlands),Triple Aqua Licensing (Netherlands),Van Kempen Koudetechniek (Netherlands). |
| Business organisations | 0 | |
| Research and educational organisations | 0 | |
| Non-governmental organisations | 1 | Greenpeace (Netherlands). |
| National states | 0 | |
| Governmental actors | 0 | |
| Regional / state / county actors | 0 | |
| City / municipal actors | 0 | |
| Intergovernmental organisations | 1 | UN Environment (Kenya). |
| Financial Institutions | 0 | |
| Faith based organisations | 0 | |
| Other members | 0 | |
| Supporting partners | 0 | In addition to the corporate members, Greenpeace and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) support Refrigerants, Naturally! and take an advising role in its management. |
| Number of members in the years | | |
| Have only national states as participators | No | |
Theme
| Transport | Agriculture | Forestry | Business | Financial institutions | Buildings | Industry | Waste | Cities and subnational governments | Short Term Pollutants | International maritime transport | Energy Supply | Fluorinated gases | Energy efficiency | Renewable energy | Supply chain emission reductions | Adaptation | Other | Resilience | Innovation | Energy Access and Efficiency | Private Finance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Not only have national states as participators