The Sparkle in Drinks Helps Lower Global Warming

Millions of carbonated drinks that are consumed each year by the UK have the same ingredient that is now being used to lower the potential of global warming. 

The ingredient we are talking about here is CO2 natural gas. We breath in oxygen and breath out CO2 (Carbon dioxide) Everything from soft drinks to beer, CO2 is what the drinks industry use to put the sparkle in the beverages.

If the drinks industry use CO2 to carbonate drinks then why is it common knowledge that CO2 is the problem causing global warming? Its all down to the emissions, or in other words, how much and how quick CO2 is released into the air. For example, we think of vehicle CO2 emissions as bad CO2.

So how does the gas that provides the pleasure of a sparkling drink help to reduce global warming? 

To answer this is Mark Kenyon the director of CO2 Refrigeration, a company which is part of the Coolmark group, Mark explains; 

"Depending on how much we know about CO2 determines what we think about it and provides us with an opinion about it. Is it good or bad for our world? Global warming is a hot topic around the world. We're seeing a powerful message being broadcast by primary and secondary school children who organise protests to be heard about what they want to see happen about the issues of global warning. 

Generally speaking, allowing large quantities of CO2 into the air is regarded as very bad. The question I find fascinating is how much CO2 can you release into our atmosphere before it is considered a bad thing to do. We still make carbonated drinks, we're still driving vehicles that omit CO2 and we're still switching the central heating on which pumps out CO2. 

When you boil it down to a quick calculation it is simply how much we put into the air now and how much we need to reduce this by; before the effects of global warming begin to reverse. The vital thing to remember is we need to reduce this amount we release each year by a life changing amount and at the moment we're not doing enough to get the thing going in reverse. There most be a lever you pull up some where to get it in reverse.

Which brings me to refrigeration and cooling.

As individuals and as a refrigeration company we wanted to be part of this change and we know that refrigeration is a heavy contributor to global warming. Its the existing fridge gases that we use which are the issue.

When we found out about fridge equipment that we could use that runs on CO2 we had no hesitation and got to work and launched our campaign to promote CO2 refrigeration systems. As I am about to explain CO2 is better for the environment than refrigeration gases.

We were compelled to invest in the development of our new brand CO2 Refrigeration and putting training into place within our company.

Our aim is to educate our existing customers and to attract like minded customers who we can help to make a better informed choice on what it means to them, their business and most importantly the environment."

Mark began to explain about how gas in fizzy drinks compare with existing fridge gases like HFC's. In the UK HFC fridge gases are used in approximately 99% of all commercial fridges and the fridge gas can be up to 4000 times more harmful to our environment than the same amount of CO2. The realisation is that using CO2 as the gas in refrigeration systems means a potential of up to 4000 times less global warming. 

Putting into this perspective it starts to make sense why CO2 in fridges is a genius idea.

Mark, who has been in the refrigeration industry for 32 years has seen 4 decades of change. He explained that the whole situation is made worse due to the inability by the industry to stop mechanical failure of systems that cause the release of tonnes of HFC's into the atmosphere every day. A problem that has been perplexing the HVAC industry since the effect of HFC gases on global warming was discovered.

Mark talked about the use of CO2 as a gas in fridge systems; "Its not a well know fact that CO2 was tried as gas in fridge systems in the earlier days of refrigeration but because the of the complications at the time of using CO2 as a refrigerant, the industry decided to go in a different direction and HFC's were born. Since then the HVAC industry has been contributing immensely to global warming.

One such company that has risen to the challenge and has the foresight to understand the global trends and is thinking about our future by providing today's solutions is Beijer Group. A global trade company operating in refrigeration and air conditioning. Beijer is heavily investing in the CO2 market. 

In answer to the challenge of how to reduce HFC emissions Beijer added SCM to its portfolio. 

SCM are the arm of Beijer that manufacturers the Cubo2 Smart systems. These are commercial refrigeration systems that use CO2 as the refrigerant and can control temperatures beyond -20c and while the gas as we know, enhances the pleasure to drinks with bubbles!

Although refrigeration CO2, and drinks CO2 are the same gas, refrigeration CO2 is purer and has no moisture contained within the gas. The refinement is practically the only difference. 

Finally Mark summed things up by saying “The problem now is that we're trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. It's now an enormous challenge to get the horse back in the stable." 

The very thing we use to provide cooling is the thing that is making the world warm, the snake eating its own tail springs to mind.

For More information about CO2 Refrigeration systems and to contact the company visit https://www.co2refrigeration.co.uk