EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
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Kochova, one atom of chlorine can destroy more than 100 000 molecules of ozone! That is why ODSs are so destructive once released into the atmosphere.
She explained how the rapid ozone decrease was first recognised in 1973 and took guests through the global response to the problem, starting with the Vienna Convention and touching on the
Montreal Protocol, on which she gave more information.
Kochova also talked about UNIDO’ s role in all this and its cooperation with South Africa, as well as the rest of the world, towards saving the environment.
Durban
She explained what the Multilateral Fund is and touched on the HPMP national plans. Her talk also gave a breakdown of the various phase-out / down schedules and the exemptions from these. Kochova explained the different groupings of countries( Article 2 versus Article 5) and how the timeline is different for these.
She then gave a long list of refrigerationrelated examples of equipment that use refrigerants and that will be affected by the phase out / down. Covering domestic, commercial, and industrial applications, she listed everything from shipping containers to heat pumps.
Debate was lively during the breakaway commissions. Noluzuko Gwayi( DEA) asking a question.
Durban
A packed room for the Durban roadshow.
Kochova urged the importance of a national as well as a global response.“ It’ s not just the work of one country or industry; everyone has to work together,” she said.
But it’ s not just about ozone layer protection anymore. It’ s about climate change, too. Substances that cause global warming have now also been moved in under the Montreal Protocol( MP), she explained.
She showed a very interesting graph depicting the difference between global temperatures under the Kigali Amendment to the MP versus‘ business as usual’ where no action is taken. It clearly showed the effect ODSs have on climate change and the importance of the phase down of these substances.
Kochova spoke on where we are going, explaining the journey from CFCs to HCFCs and then to HFCs and a future of alternatives with minimal influence on climate change.
But it’ s not that easy to simply‘ switch over’ to new refrigerants.“ There is no one-fit solution for all countries,” she said.“ Each country is unique and has its own challenges.”
New refrigerants come with new challenges. From availability and costeffectiveness to toxicity and flammability. But these challenges must be overcome for a‘ greener’ environment for all.
Her next few slides looked at‘ Why are we doing all this?’“ Because it affects everyone as a whole; it affects all life and ecosystems,” said Kochova. She showed some examples of these negative effects.
She spoke on global warming and the increase of natural disasters.
“ It might seem challenging and complicated when dealing with challenges like these; it might seem overwhelming. But at the end of the day, we are all part of this,” she concluded.“ Without a healthy world, we don’ t have anything healthy.”
Pieter Aucamp, who sits on the global MP Scientific Assessment Panel, commented during the question and answer time that the good news is that the ozone is showing signs of healing.“ For the
1. Amalia Nangolo of the Namibian National Ozone Unit( NOU) spoke about her country’ s phase-out / down initiatives.
2. Gerrie Coetzee of the South African Weather Service gave a highly technical talk about his company’ s work keeping watch over the ozone layer.
3. Margaret Molefe( director of hazardous chemical management at DEA) did a presentation on South Africa’ s own HPMP and the future of the HFC phase down locally.
4. Michael Labacher of A-Gas presenting during the Commission 1 breakaway session.
5. Minky Chauke of DEA who spoke on compliance monitoring, taking attendees through the current structure of the department.
first time we could positively identify that the ozone layer was repairing,” he said.
F-GAS: A EUROPEAN EXAMPLE
The next speaker of the day was Dr Ina Colombo, deputy director of the International Institute of Refrigeration( IIR), who was attending from France. It was also her second time in the country, previously having attended a FRIGAIR in her student days.
Dr Colombo spoke about the importance of refrigeration in the world, explaining the F-Gas regulations and the impact this has had on HFC consumption in Europe. She shared thoughts on what has worked globally and shed some light on how the rest of the world has dealt with the phasing down of HFCs.
She stressed the importance of reducing leaks in refrigeration systems and regular testing for leaks. This led to the topic of training and certification and Dr Colombo explained the requirements under the MP for anyone who works on refrigerant installations to be certified. She touched on the various levels of certification under the F-Gas regulation before moving on to local certification and how this works in South Africa, as governed by SANS10147.
12 www. coldlinkafrica. co. za COLD LINK AFRICA • September 2018