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CANBERRA - The Australian government will invest A$2 ($2.28) million in development of more greenhouse friendly chemicals for use in supermarket fridges.
Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the money would go to the Natural Refrigerants Transition Board Ltd (NRTB) for a pilot scheme to trial natural refrigerant technologies in 150 supermarkets across Australia.
Under the scheme, the Australian government's Greenhouse Gas Abatement Programme will work with industry training courses in TAFE colleges across Australia.
Mr Turnbull said this would be the first time natural refrigerant technologies would be tested in Australia on such a large and co-ordinated scale.
He said the project had the potential to be rolled out to an estimated 150 supermarkets across Australia. It's expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 380,000 tonnes during the 2008-2012 period.
"Synthetic refrigerants have a very high global warming potential. Replacing these with natural, lower emission refrigerants will lessen the impact on the atmosphere and also has the potential to lower supermarkets power bills," he said in a statement.
The NRTB is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2002 by members and suppliers of the refrigeration industry that seeks to increase uptake of natural refrigerants.
In addition to installing natural refrigerant systems, the NRTB will also facilitate industry training courses in TAFEs across Australia.
Mr Turnbull said training was an essential part of the project as lack of properly trained technicians had been identified as a barrier for industry to adopt the new technology.
"This is the first time that natural refrigerant technologies will be tested in Australia on such a large scale and in such a co-ordinated manner. The technology has the potential to apply to other sectors of the refrigeration industry including hotels, clubs and commercial kitchens," he said.
- AAP
