Speaking at RAC’s Retail Question Time event, consultant Ray Gluckman, who worked closely with officials involved with the European Union (EU) F-gas regulation, said, “At the moment we don’t have enough end users, maintenance, or installation companies taking the necessary action to meet the targets set by the EU.”

Representatives from participating industry associations, refrigerant producers, and manufacturers of refrigeration equipment and components also provided progress reports detailing the steps they’ve taken over the past year to meet the goal of reducing hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) use 80 percent by 2050. 

Honeywell’s Solstice®N40 (R-448A) refrigerant for supermarket refrigeration has been named a finalist for the R&D 100 Awards. The R&D 100 Awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine, honor the 100 most innovative technologies and services of the past year.

The recent refrigerant delistings made under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program have made some customers — especially in the supermarket refrigeration sector — skittish about making a major investment in new refrigeration equipment.

HVACR industry leaders and White House officials gathered today at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, District of Columbia, to reaffirm their 2014 pledge to invest $5 billion over 10 years in the research, development, and commercialization of low-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final rule, announced July 2 and published in the Federal Register on July 20 (Federal Register Vol. 80 No. 138, July 20, 2015, 42870-42959), will — among other things — change the listing for certain refrigerants used for retail food refrigeration.

Daikin Industries Ltd. has announced that it is offering companies worldwide free access to 93 patents to encourage the development and commercialization of air conditioning, cooling, and heat pump equipment that uses HFC-32 as a single-component refrigerant.