The business case for natural refrigerants in N. America

From 12-13 June, 200 experts assembled in Washington D.C. to discussed the business case for natural refrigerants in North America. Technology case studies alternate with policy and end-user panel discussions. R744.com reports live from the event and summarises key messages and trends.

Recent policy and market developments in the US and Canada, seem to indicate that the North American market is ready to embrace natural refrigerants in selected applications. 200 key players in the North American market evaluated and discussed this prospect during a two days conference in Washington D.C.

Find below an overview of published articles:

Transcritical CO2 coming to US stores, as naturals become mainstream: 2013 will see main retailers in the US using transcritical CO₂ supermarket systems – a technology already used in Canada. This was confirmed by speakers and participants at the ‘ATMOsphere America 2012 - the Business Case for Natural Refrigerants’ conference held in Washington DC, 12-13 June 2012. First installations are expected already this fall, once the technology receives UL approval.
ATMOsphere America 2012: an exciting year ahead for CO2 refrigeration: In an end user panel session at ATMOsphere America 2012, moderated by Keilly Witman from the GreenChill Partnership, a panel of supermarket executives agreed that CO₂ supermarket systems are within reach of retailers both from a cost and implementation perspective. Learning by doing is helping to reduce initial CO₂ system costs whilst R744 is enabling retailers to reduce operational costs.
Energy savings with CO2 heat pumps at American food production plants: Case studies on CO₂ heat pump installations in a winery, a commercial bakery and two dairy/cheese production plants demonstrated concrete energy cost savings. The units are able to cater for both heating and cooling needs and cover a multitude of required temperatures involved in the production processes.