ACR Journal

NEWS 08 April | May 2021 Volume 7 No.3 COOLING CHAMPIONS: COOL CAREERS FOR A BETTER WORLD – WORLD REFRIGERATION DAY ANNOUNCES 2021 THEME In a move to attract a new generation of cooling champions, the World Refrigeration Day secretariat has announced that the focus for WRD 21 will be to inspire students and young professionals to meet the challenges faced in their communities. With Refrigeration at the very heart of modern-day life, there are more than 15 million people employed worldwide in the refrigeration sector, providing a vast range of essential services. WRD say that a new generation of cooling champions are needed to create the environments that modern life requires. ALTERNATIVE REFRIGERANT GREENHOUSE GASES SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE F-GAS CERTIFICATION SCHEME, INSISTS AREA AREA, the European association of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump contractors, has issued proposals to extend the F-gas certification scheme to alternative refrigerants. Reacting to concerns of a low level of training for alternative refrigerants, AREA is requesting that mandatory certification is necessary that will complement the existing F-gas regulations. Graeme Fox, Chairman of the Refrigerants Working Group, said: "It makes sense to work on the basis of the current F-gas Regulation that already has an established training and certification scheme. Introducing the concept of 'alternative refrigerant greenhouse gases' makes it possible to include most low GWP alternative refrigerants in the environment scope of the existing F-gas legislation. This is essential to avoid reinventing the wheel and delaying the process with a separate legal framework." AREA President Marco Buoni said: "These proposals are the result of a fantastic collaborative exercise that mobilised many experts and leading trainers among the 25 AREA members from 22 European countries. Mandatory certification on alternative refrigerants is a major issue for our industry. We wanted to make sure we would not just make requests but actually come forward with concrete and constructive suggestions. I believe our proposals are solid. They are an essential and much-needed step forward for the European Union, which could also be taken as an example globally. I look forward to discussing the details with the European Commission and other stakeholders."