Brazil. The Ministry of the Environment and the associations that bring together supermarkets (ABRAS) and CAVC-R equipment manufacturers (ABRAVA) signed on March 26 the technical cooperation agreement to promote the maintenance and replacement of obsolete refrigeration equipment that works with refrigerants harmful to the ozone layer in supermarkets throughout Brazil.The basic objectives of the agreement are to increase the energy efficiency of store refrigeration equipment by raising awareness and encouraging good use and maintenance practices, and to gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The planned joint activities include the formulation of gas substitution policies, the provision of sustainable refrigeration technologies and the channel for the application of such practices, provided by ABRAS.
The three entities will promote and share evaluations and diagnoses, plan strategic actions and technical and educational advice through working groups to develop informative materials, hold debates of the three levels involved and structure training and qualification programs for the workforce.
In Brazil, there are more than 74 thousand stores, most of them small merchants, and the consumption of refrigerant gases in the country is nine thousand tons a year, of which about four thousand are consumed by supermarket equipment. This is equivalent to emissions of seven million tons of CO2.
