Dominik Flikweert (Systemair, REHVA Supporter) represented REHVA at the ATMO Summit Europe and shares his insights and key takeaways from the event.

Investor panel with Friedrich Ysenburg and Ted Amyuni (Triton), Timo Kilivaht (Kelvion), and Frank Jansing (bluu unit), moderated by Marc Chasserot

• Non-EU companies look towards Europe for the standards that we are setting, but they are not investing here because the regulatory environment supporting these sustainability objectives is inconsistent and recently also whimsical. They prefer investing outside the EU: e.g., Carrier is investing US$ 850 M in a factory in the US to produce refrigerants in line with EU standards, while it is intended for the American market and such requirements do not exist there. Aside from North America, investments are also made in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific. 
• Interesting sidenote: there is an association for refrigerants containing natural PFAS (forgot the name).
• One of the audience members asks why CO2 is chosen as an option, since it is less efficient than Propane. The replies from the panel were rather vague, but in the end it comes down to supporting a technology neutral approach and selecting the right refrigerants for the right application, and maintaining competition between natural refrigerants. 

Presentation by Nadine Neuberger (TEKO, part of KKVB Manufacturing Group). Alessandro Zudek (Zudek Group), and Olivier Liégeois (Copeland), moderated by Marc Chasserot

• Teko is an EU-based (HQ in Germany) refrigerants manufacturer with worldwide manufacturing, almost 1 000 employees, and turnover of € 450 M. 
• Notices a massive worldwide growth in CO2-based HPs. Audience participant from EHPA disagrees and mentions that Propane is used by the majority of new HPs [personal note: this is also what was noticeable at Chillventa], but the ATMOsphere moderator found that 'rather ambitious.'
• Zudek is an Italian manufacturer of Ammonia-based refrigerants. They are family-owned with two manufacturing plants in Italy, have a turnover of € 25 M, and have sold about 330 Ammonia-based industrial Chillers/HPs with energy recovery units. They foresee a large growth in the Cooling HVAC market, and with strong growth opportunities for Ammonia-based units. 
• Copeland is a company with US$ 4.5 B sales annually, and they see a growth in natural refrigerants (the moderator notices that they still continue selling high-GWP refrigerants though). They have sold already over 100,000 HPs running on R290. They see an opportunity for R1270 in low-temperature (LT) applications and a CO2 scroll technology in proximity stores, while repeating the regulatory and policy uncertainties that were also covered in the first session (see above). 
• Discussion and audience poll on which sector will be disrupted next by natural refrigerants in Europe (see attached photo 1); the 'Other' was for persons who believe that district heating will be disrupted next (note: this is also what the EHPA is pushing for). 
• ATMOsphere started working on an ATMOsphere Data Centre Conference. 

Policy pannel by Arno Kaschl (DG CLIMA), Jana Mašíčková (CZ Ministry of Environment), Clare Perry (Environmental Investigation Agency, EIA), Asbjørn Vonsild (Vonsild Consulting), moderated by Marc Chasserot

• DG CLIMA explains the new F-gas Regulation. Mr Kaschl did not mention much that we did not already know, except for an insight on market trends with numbers and details on the timeline for a service bans for units already in use (see attached photos 2 and 3). 
• [note: CZ presentation was interesting, but could not pay attention due to other urgencies.]
• EIA presentation was focussed on the real-life impact of low-GWP (natural) refrigerants, and it is true that Ammonia, CO2, and Propane are 'truly natural,' but we should be aware of other alternatives that are scams in the sense that their production and disposal procedures are polluting. [note: due to aforementioned reason, I could not make photos.]
• Mr Vonsild provides updates on EN 60335-2-40 developments. He is also covering issues concerning 'flammability safety' (see photos 4 till 9). 

End-user session with Olaf Schulze (Metro), Jan Geeraerts (Carrefour Belgium), Vincent Grass (Nestlé), and Michael Reiserer (Bierbichler), moderated by Jan Dusek

• Around 75 % of Carrefour Belgium's cooling equipment is refrigerated with CO2, with a ROI of just 8 months.
• Nestlé is also pushing for Ammonia and CO2-based AC/HPs. 
• Bierbichler has an interesting point: their storage facilities and trucks are equipped with natural refrigerants because they make much less noise and cause less vibration, so the working environment for their employees becomes much more pleasant. They received feedback from colleagues that their mental wellbeing and physical health improved, because they are not subject to constant noise or vibrations.

Refrigeration case studies, with interesting presentation by Darren Lacroix (HVA Energy Recovery) and Stefaan Bostyn (Fieuw Koeltechniek)

• Innovative PX G1300 ERC technology for CO2 systems in Europe, currently mostly deployed in retail in Belgium (e.g., Carrefour). It can be both retrofitted into existing systems or be incorporated into a new refrigeration pack (see photo 10).