Chilling Prospects 2022: Putting Natural Refrigerants on the Map in the Middle East and North Africa

Sustainable Energy for All recently highlighted the Cool Up programme’s work on sustainable refrigeration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, specifically discussing the benefits and progress made with natural refrigerants.

The article discusses how the evolution of cooling has come full circle. Natural refrigerants were once considered dangerous due to safety concerns, because of these concerns new technologies like hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were created. However, HCFCs and HFCs turned out to be harmful to the environment. Now, thanks to better and safer cooling technology, natural refrigerants can be used again and can reduce the effects of climate change.

Sustainable cooling solutions like these are needed globally, however the MENA region is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Both energy consumption for cooling and regional temperatures having been rising over the past decades and are expected to continue if the same cooling path continues.

The Cool Up programme aims to address these rising temperatures by creating an equitable, low-energy, low-impact cooling sector in the region through a combination of natural refrigerants, new sustainable cooling solutions, modern passive cooling measures, and more. The program aims to help Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey to boost energy efficiency and natural refrigerants in the cooling and refrigeration sector.

Looking to the future, the MENA region has the potential to be a leader in sustainable cooling. By working across sectors and regions, the hope is that by 2050, both the MENA region and the global cooling industry will see natural refrigerants as a path forward to a more sustainable world.

Read the full article to learn more about natural refrigerants, the Cool Up programme, and what it is doing to promote sustainable cooling in the MENA region.