Australian green group at risk

Ground breaking work by the Green Cooling Council to reduce the emissions of high global warming HFCs by their replacement with CO₂ is under serious threat due to the delay of approved funding from the Australian Government. A cease of operations could lead to the loss of invaluable data on performance of CO₂-based supermarkets and the end of a nation-wide training scheme.

Australia’s essential transition to natural refrigerants is in danger of losing momentum, as one of their major advocates has been pushed to the edge of bankruptcy. The Green Cooling Council, a not-for-profit organisation founded to promote a turn-away from high global warming refrigerants, has thus been refused much-needed funds to restore its activities and is, since early December, under forced administration. Unless the government resolves the delay in payment of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program (GGAP) funding within the next few weeks, the Green Cooling Council (GCC) will irreversibly cease operation.

A possible solution has been proposed by Senator Christine Milne, who is urging the government to take immediate action to avoid termination of the project. On 4 December, Milne moved a motion in the Australian Senate, passed with Opposition support, calling on the government to acknowledge the “highly significant and internationally-recognised work to facilitate a reduction in the use of high global warming potential HFC greenhouse gases in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry”. She also highlighted the Council’s valuable contribution to preparing Australia’s industry for the introduction of the upcoming Carbon Polution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

According to industry observers, the change of Government since the approval of the initial 2 million $ to fund the Green Cooling Council could be at the origin of the controversy. In order to ensure the continuation of the project, full payment of the milestones is required. In the interim, urgent measures will need to be discussed with the administrator.

CO₂ data could be lost

In the last 12 months, the GCC has been gathering substantial amount of data in detailed performance monitoring of CO₂ (R744) refrigeration equipment installed in six different stores. Originally, it was planned to publish the information at the end of the project, with an interim report after one year. This valuable data could now be lost if the organization is dissolved. More importantly, significant investments made to date may never benefit the industry, as data collection has now ceased and no capacity exists to analyse it and share it. This would greatly diminish the return on public funds already invested in developing new climate friendly refrigeration systems.

Training scheme in jeopardy

Another imminent setback would be the premature end to a Regional Skills Initiative grant proposal that was approved in September by the Federal Department of Education. It was meant to develop training materials and standards to facilitate the expanded use of natural refrigerants. Unless the government acts to restore the GCC to solvency, in total $600,000 of federal and industry funding will not deployed to provide vital training needs in the use of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons systems. No other industry association can take over the training scheme, as had been hoped.

Background to The Green Cooling Council

Since its foundation in 2003, the GCC has been active in the promotion of natural refrigerants, including CO₂, hydrocarbons or ammonia. In 2006, it received a grant of up to $2 million over 4 years to prove the viability of R744 Technology in one transcritical and six subcritical supermarket applications.

One of the first projects supported by the GCC, the Drakes Foodmarket in Angle Vale opened earlier this year using an R744-only refrigeration system. The first CO₂ transcritical installation operating in the Southern Hemisphere was lauded as a breakthrough for the industry, now showing a clear inclination towards R744. The GCC also contributed to the development of a cascade CO₂ system at the Victoria Harbour Docklands Safeway store, which retail chain Woolworths presented as a blueprint for future stores. In Sydney, the GCC facilitated the construction of three cascade R744 supermarkets, including the first CO₂/ammonia cascade system at the Coles Ropes Crossing environmental concept store. Beyond the Australian borders, the GCC has actively advocated the use of natural refrigerants in developing countries at international meetings.