RACA Journal : ISSN 1812-772X
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RACA Journal Publication www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za eamonn @ interactmedia . co . za
THE KIGALI AMENDMENT COMES TO TOWN
Towards the end of March , Gauteng and Cape Town hosted workshops updating the country on the current state of implementation of the Kigali Amendment .
Having not heard much about it for a couple of years , many attendees were impressed with the amount of work that had already been achieved behind the scenes by the Department of Forestry , Fisheries and the Environment ( DFFE ) ably assisted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation ( UNIDO ). The Gauteng workshop was packed , while a smaller Cape Town contingent made up for their numbers with vociferous questioning and discussion of what is an extremely important topic to the HVAC & R community – the phase out of HCFCs and phase down of HFCs .
The primary unanswered question remains whether South Africa will be any better at policing the stepped phase out and phase down than it is in policing any other regulation . Over the coming months , RACA Journal will be publishing several of these excellent presentations , which looked at the country ’ s training needs , the range of alternative natural refrigerants available as well as the new online process for allocating quotas .
The Kigali Amendment affirms the country ’ s commitment to phasing out super-polluting hydrofluorocarbons ( HFCs ) commonly used in air conditioning and refrigeration equipment due to their high global warming potential ( GWP ).
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE REFRIGERANT REGULATIONS The Kigali Amendment is part of the Montreal Protocol , which in turn represents the international effort to regulate harmful refrigerants . The Protocol was adopted as long ago as 1987 and over time ratified by all 198 UN member states . It called initially for the phaseout of chlorofluorocarbons ( CFCs ) and , later , hydrochlorofluorocarbons ( HCFCs ) because of their damage to the ozone layer . Thereafter , manufacturers started using HFCs for refrigeration which , while causing little harm to the ozone layer , often have a high GWP that can be thousands of times more potent than CO2 . The Kigali Amendment , adopted in 2016 and ratified so far by 145 member states as of October 2022 , establishes a phaseout of high GWP HFCs to low GWP alternatives to avoid the worst impacts of global warming . Policies prompted by the Kigali Amendment appear to be driving substantial international investment in the development and adoption of low GWP refrigerants , especially in the global HVAC and commercial refrigeration markets . Stimulating this process is that some governments in the EU and US have established programmes that support R & D for low GWP refrigerants .
Why training is so important , and some reservations expressed , is that low GWP refrigerants pose safety concerns like potential flammability or toxicity . Furthermore , the cost of purchasing low GWP HVAC systems or adapting existing systems to use low GWP refrigerants can be prohibitively expensive for building owners . Nonetheless , the Kigali Amendment will continue to push the transformative process .
Elsewhere in these pages , a variety of articles demonstrate how new technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality are changing the heating and cooling industry . To keep up , HVAC & R experts need to understand the utilisation of new HVAC technology . This is particularly evident with our May feature on Building Management Solutions and its interaction with the Internet of Things ( IoT ) technologies .
With electricity consumption top of everyone ’ s mind in South Africa , these technologies help to give visibility to energy utilisation and to plan hardware support and maintenance . The HVAC & R industry is witnessing new emerging technologies to eliminate current intricacies and deliver a simpler , quality user experience .
Finding new and more efficient means to heat and cool offices , commercial and industrial buildings is essential . Energy efficiency is the primary driver for the latest developments in HVAC technologies and improvements . Already , newer HVAC systems are much more efficient than older models and can help end-users save money on energy bills . Furthermore , newer HVAC systems are increasingly better for the environment , putting less demand on South Africa ’ s overburdened and creaking power infrastructure .. RACA
Eamonn
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I May 2023 1