Cool it - phase out polluting refrigerants

Bath FOE group urges local supermarket to "Cool it" and phase out polluting refrigerants

Bath Friends of the Earth will have a stall outside of Iceland this Saturday 27th to ask the supermarket to move faster to eliminate the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in their fridges

Research by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has demonstrated that Supermarket refrigeration makes a major contribution to climate change. About one quarter of the carbon footprint of supermarkets comes from the cooling gases used in their refrigeration systems.

This is because the main cooling gases used by supermarkets - hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) are thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO2) in terms of their global warming impact.

HFCs were used in the 1990s to replace CFCs as refrigerants because they do not destroy the ozone layer. However, their impact on global warming was not taken into account at this time.

The EIA has revealed that supermarkets are the biggest source of HFC emissions in the UK. In 2005 their refrigeration and air conditioning equipment containing HFCs emitted the equivalent of 2 million tonnes of CO2 every year. This is equal to flying in a plane from London to New York over 2.5 million times!.

The cooperative, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland performed worst in a survey carried out by the EIA into their proposals to phase out HFCs. Other supermarkets are progressing faster towatrds using other refrigerants.

David Searby spokesperson for Bath FOE said "Much attention is presently being focused on carbon dioxide as a cause of climate change, but HFCs used in supermarket fridges are 2000 times more polluting. Thats why we are calling on Iceland, to Cool it and phae out HFCs".

Contact:
David Searby 01225 312770 (eves)
coordinator@bath-foe.co.uk
dpcsearby@googlemail.com

More information
www.chillingfacts.org.uk/uploads/chillingfacts.pdf
www.chillingfacts.org.uk