Today is World Refrigeration Day, a global celebration to recognise the importance of cooling which is essential for food supply, vaccine preservation, medical procedures, data processing and so much more.
It is also an important day to recognise the professionals that make up the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) workforce.
The theme for WRD 2024 is temperature matters, a message understood by anyone working in the RAC sector.
It is important not to over-cool spaces or products, which wastes energy and money and can lead to excessive use of refrigerants.
Selecting the appropriate equipment to match specific cooling needs – not too big, not too little – is also important, since oversized equipment can lead to additional refrigerant and energy consumption.
There is a close relationship between temperature, cooling equipment, and their environmental impacts.
For many years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been sounding the alarm that a major climate crisis is looming.
Global temperatures have already increased by 1ºC, and to limit the warming to 1.5°C there is still a lot of work to do.
The IPCC advises that carbon dioxide emissions need to fall by about 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030. It is also necessary to reach ‘net zero’ by 2050.
Multiple climate protection solutions – including those related to refrigerants and energy efficiency – must be pursued simultaneously to avert a mid-century climate crisis.
World Refrigeration Day is an opportunity for National Ozone Units and their partners in the RAC sector to explain the profound significance of temperature control for modern life and the measures industry must take to promote energy efficiency and mitigate climate change.