ATMOsphere has released a report on how to accelerate the shift towards heat pumps based on natural refrigerants in Europe. The report describes how heat pump systems are often rely on highly polluting synthetic substances like fluorinated greenhouse gases (f-gases) to transfer heat, despite suitable natural refrigerant-based alternative technologies being readily available on the European market.
This report is an interesting for whomever is interested in the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that has been made stricter within the new F-Gas Regulation proposal by the European Commission in April earlier this year. The proposal strengthens the HFCs phase-down schedule (ca. 98% reduction on the allowed quantity by 2048 based on the level in 2015) and introduces prohibitions targeting new heat pumps and air conditioners.
Interested in heat pumps based on natural refrigerants? Follow our TRI-HP project which is developing novel technologies in this area, combining NR heat pumps with medium storage and higher efficiency gains.