The quiet running of the engines

Concern about global warming has become the main concern when it comes to putting refrigerators of all kinds on an "energy diet." The goal now envisioned is to design environmentally friendly refrigerators and freezers that use half the energy of an ordinary refrigerator.

But this interest is nothing new. It has been a goal since the last decade, but now it is also joined by the fact that domestic refrigerators are one of the most significant energy wasters in the world. At the center of this controversy, there are, of course, the engines of these that are manufactured around the world, but especially, those that are manufactured in Latin America.

To help us better understand the current industry landscape, Donn Geisert of Micro Motors, an Indian engine manufacturer with a large market in the United States and Latin America; he answered our questions and gave us insights into what is expected and what currently exists in the refrigerated engine industry.

The first important issue is the fact that packaged refrigeration equipment (such as engines) spends almost half the energy that total systems require. However, manufacturing companies must consider that the equipment as a whole must be efficient, although the focus of many buyers is first the cost (as it usually is throughout Latin America).

Of course, the issue of efficiency in the "standard" engines used both commercially and industrially, varies greatly from country to country in our Latin American region. This parameter is decisive, and highly conditions the possibility of improving energy efficiency at the unit level. In countries where the products are mostly imported, the efficiency of the products will be, as is known, influenced by the regulations of the country of origin.

It is possible that competition in the East and the outflow of motor products from China will continue to have a large presence in Latin America while currencies in general are overvalued and government incentives in exports remain the same.

Of course, the largest markets for engines for cooling continue to be Mexico and Brazil, but extreme instability in the goods markets is still the main problem for engine manufacturers.

The topic, which covers everyone else in the industry, is the fact that environmentally friendly engines are becoming an increasingly feasible reality. However, the adoption of high-efficiency equipment in Latin America faces two powerful impediments: the lack of appropriate regulation for technical specifications and the lack of knowledge of them by customers and consumers, who still do not demand much, respect for them.

It would be useful to look at the rules already existing between the United States, Canada and Mexico, since this agreement has benefited the exports of those countries.