I recently received a summary of the Climate conference held in Poznan, Poland in September. The clear message sent from the many participants is that the debate over alternative refrigerants (or "natural refrigerants" as some like to term them) is far from clear-cut or over.

A large supermarket chain claimed that, after investigation into alternatives, they came to the conclusion that this would come with a 10-20% energy efficiency penalty compared to what they have at the moment.

This is in line with discussions I've held with engineers in the UK who have been testing commercial refrigeration systems and supermarket installations with alternatives to HFCs. The common theme is exactly along the lines of what I've been saying for a while: "certain applications operate more efficiently with HFCs".

Moving forward one month, I was in Brussels last weekend for the latest AREA general assembly. AREA now represents 24 member associations across 20 European nations and is regarded by the European authorities as being the foremost refrigeration & air conditioning association representing contractors.

The common theme to come from all corners of Europe was that energy efficiency is of paramount importance. With this in mind it's not surprising that many engineers are reluctant to sign up to the green bandwagon that keeps on rolling relentlessly with no regard for scientific fact or reason.

Last Friday in Brussels over dinner with a prominent member of the "naturals" lobby, I was taken to task over my AREA position paper on HFCs Vs Alternatives, published in June.

My dinner companion didn't like the facts where split system air conditioners were using around 34% more energy when running on propane instead of the standard R410a and bluntly told me: "I don't believe the data".

I sat there thinking, "That's not very scientific is it? If the data defeats your argument, simply denounce it!"

I did bite my tongue though and calmly pointed out that the COPs in the sales literature of certain heat pump equipment available with hydrocarbons is considerably less than standard equivalent R410a systems - and that is their best available data!

Funnily enough my companion changed the subject after that!