Sustainable cooling is achievable

BELGIUM: Sustainable cooling is achievable but, according to the head of EPEE, there’s a gap between science, policy and people that needs to be closed as a matter of urgency.

Recent moves at European and international level have indicated that cooling is no longer a forgotten sector on the way towards carbon neutrality. At the UN Climate Action Summit this week, EPEE – along with the activities of the recently launched UN Environment Programme’s Cool Coalition – published a pledge on the cooling industry’s commitments on sustainable cooling. 

Speaking a few days later at the EU’s Research and Innovation Days in Brussels, EPEE director general Andrea Voigt said: “Cooling does not suffer from a lack of innovation or sustainable technologies. There are many efficient and sustainable solutions readily available that are only waiting to be scaled up and deployed. 

“There is an overwhelming consensus, across industries, that solutions and technologies are generally available to meet the 1.5°C target. It’s not a question of technological innovation. It’s a question of reaching the people. The gap between science, policy and people is huge and needs to be closed as a matter of urgency,” she added.

To bridge this gap, EPEE is to start a broader #CountOnCooling campaign including a white paper, describing important steps to deliver sustainable cooling. The white paper is to be launched at the 31st Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Rome in November. It proposes a number of steps to reach its goal: optimise the need for cooling, improve the energy and resource efficiency of cooling equipment, mitigate the climate impact of refrigerants, address the investment cost for higher efficiency solutions, and move to renewable energy sources with an integrated approach.

The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) was founded in 2000, is headquartered in Brussels and is the voice of the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump industry in Europe, currently representing 48 members from three continents – Asia, Europe and North America.

Related stories:

EPEE makes climate summit cooling pledge – 22 September 2019
BELGIUM: With the opening of the Climate Action Summit in New York, EPEE has published a cooling pledge, outlining the industry’s commitments towards sustainable cooling solutions. Read more…