5 October 2010: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in partnership American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE), convened a two-day conference titled “Road to Climate Friendly Chillers – Moving beyond CFCs and HCFCs,” in Cairo, Egypt, from 30 September-1 October 2010.

The Conference reviewed technology trends in the air conditioning sector and their impact on the environment, and concluded that renewable energy-powered cooling units are approaching commercial production stage. This would mitigate climate change by helping phase-out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are potent greenhouses gases (GHGs), since globally, around 1.5 billion refrigerators currently use HCFCs.

The Conference assisted Article 5 (developing country) parties to the Montreal Protocol to identify further potential activities in the chiller sub-sector, as well as to provide environmental and economic information on alternative refrigerants management and chiller replacement strategies. [UNEP Press Release] [Conference Website]