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The Clean Cooling Coalition

The Clean Cooling Coalition (CCC) is coalition of progressive European companies from the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry.

The Coalition believes that the most effective way to achieve the EU’s carbon neutrality goals by 2050, and secure high level of environmental protection, lies in the quick reduction of the use of fluorinated substances. Therefore, the Coalition advocates for ambitious measures across the EU legislative acquis bound to restrict their use.

Fluorinated gases (f-gases) are fluorinated substances that are used in HVAC&R systems worldwide as a working fluid to absorb and reject heat from an undesired place and deliver it to a desired one. These systems are used to control temperature, e.g., preserve temperature-sensitive goods from spoiling, as well as regulate temperature for human comfort.

The emission of f-gases from HVAC&R equipment, so-called “direct emissions”, represents a global problem that regulators have been trying to tackle since the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. F-gases have shown a plethora of problems since their invention and subsequent commercialisation: first, they have been discovered to be ozone-depleting, then potent greenhouse gases, and now, linked to environmental pollution. The European Union has been regulating these substances under the European Union Regulation on fluorinated substances since 2006 and the Regulation on ozone-depleting substances since 2009.

The Coalition believes that scaling up natural refrigerant-based solutions, i.e., HVAC&R systems that are charged with naturally occurring working fluids, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons (such as, for instance, propane and isobutane), ammonia, water and air is the solution to decreasing the use of fluorinated substances.

Systems charged with these natural refrigerants are increasingly being adopted by a wide variety of stakeholders, such as the Coalition members, who prove that these can be handled safely. From a direct emission point of view, these systems have a negligible impact on the climate, and thanks to ongoing technological advancements, they perform as efficiently – or even more efficiently – than f-gas systems in terms of energy performances, addressing the issue of indirect emission too.

For the reasons above, the Coalition members have joined forces since 2020 to prove to EU policy makers that transitioning to natural refrigerants in all subsectors of the HVAC&R industry does not only make economic sense, but is also a climate- and environment-aligned choice when deploying heating and cooling systems across the continent.

Clean Cooling

The concept of “clean cooling” was originally defined by Professor Toby Peters and together with ATMOsphere, they set to work in 2020 to develop a holistic set of standards by which to measure the impact of cooling systems. Since then, this concept of a “gold standard for sustainable cooling” has gained great traction and has been used far and wide.

In short, clean cooling is the benchmark at the intersection of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Kigali Amendment, the Montreal Protocol and the sustainable development goals developed by the United Nations. It is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable cooling that helps the global community adapt to and thrive in – but also mitigate the impacts and risks of – a warming world.

Clean cooling is a declination of a cooling (or heating) system that involves environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable solutions. In other words, clean cooling aims to provide temperature control for all who need it, without environmental damage or climate impact, reducing both the global warming potential (GWP) of the refrigerant used as well as the energy needed to operate the system.

Clean Cooling can therefore be understood as an essential service in our modern economies that help mitigate the effect of global warming.

As the Coalition is composed of European companies supporting the scaling up of natural refrigerants in cooling and heating appliances, striving for the maximum energy efficiency in the respective subsectors, the Coalition believes that clean cooling is achieved through the widespread uptake of natural working fluids across all applications concerned in the subsectors of the heating and cooling economies.

In short, Clean Cooling is the benchmark at the intersection of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Kigali Amendment, the Montreal Protocol and the sustainable development goals. It is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable cooling that helps the global community adapt to and thrive in – but also mitigate the impacts and risks of – a warming world.

“Clean Cooling” is a declination of a cooling (or heating) system that involves environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable solutions. In other words, Clean Cooling aims to provide temperature control for all who need it, without environmental damage or climate impact, reducing both the global warming potential (GWP) of the refrigerant used as well as the energy needed to operate the system.

Clean Cooling can therefore be understood as an essential service in our modern economies that help mitigate the effect of global warming.

As the Coalition is composed of European companies supporting the scaling up of natural refrigerants in cooling and heating appliances, striving for the maximum energy efficiency in the respective subsectors, the Coalition believes that Clean Cooling is achieved through the widespread uptake of natural working fluids across all applications concerned in the subsectors of the heating and cooling economies.