By: Sara Afzel
Beijing is all set to host first ever, “Green and Eco-Friendly” Winter Olympics in an Innovative Fashion
This decision has put the importance of low-GWP refrigerants on the world stage and will be the tipping point as well.
“Beijing 2022 organiser’s decision to use CO2 and R449A won huge applause from the whole audience at the Atmosphere America convention.” These are the words of Art Sutherland, who has worked as a consultant for the IOC for three decades.
Beijing is poised to become the first city in the Olympic Movement’s history to host both summer and winter editions of the Games. Not only this, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be one of the greenest and first ever eco-friendly Olympics.The whole world is witnessing the remarkable work that the country has done to create one of the greenest events in the history of the Olympic Games, for example, under the Beijing organising committee’s Sustainability Plan, several venues for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics will be reused for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, China’s carbon offsetting measures and green energy methods have sent a clear signal to the world that the country is committed to the mission of advocating carbon neutrality and achieving sustainable development.
Now let’s come back on what Art Sutherland told the Beijing Olympic Organisers about their decision to use CO2 and R449A.These are two types of refrigerants－carbon dioxide (R744) and R449A which are involved in the process of ice making, which the organizing committee chose following careful deliberation and consultation with experts from home and abroad.
In fact, it was the R507 refrigerant that was first considered as it is widely used across the globe and meets the requirements of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer for developing countries.After looking into global development trends in the application of refrigerants, and conducting discussions with refrigeration and air-conditioning experts, organizers decided to implement an alternative, greener ice-making plan with the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because studies find that R507 has a comparatively high Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 3985, Beijing 2022 organizers ultimately decided to turn to greener refrigerants. Now a carefully and wisely chosen technology, an Eco-friendly ice-making system is all set to make its Olympic debut at Beijing 2022.Of the nine ice rinks in the seven competition venues for Beijing 2022, five use CO2 for ice-making, the other four use R449A. and for the first time, natural CO2 refrigeration system will be used at the Winter Olympic Games.
CO2 has zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and a GWP of just 1.The CO2 refrigeration system was recommended as an ice-making solution for the National Speed Skating Oval by a panel comprising a dozen academics from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Sciences, senior experts from domestic refrigeration associations, and representatives of the construction team.The trans-critical system features high security, low energy consumption and operational costs and is environmentally friendly. In addition, the heat generated from the process can be recycled, which increases the energy management efficiency with integrated cooling and heating. The system is Key to energy management at the ice venues, while experts say it potentially can have broad applications across the world.
Experts from international federations told the organisers that common Eco-friendly ice-making practices at the National Speed Skating Oval would meet Olympic standards. But still, they spent 18 months studying ice-making from previous Winter Olympic Games and analysed the pros and cons of every type of refrigerant. Eventually, they were able to come up with better solutions.
Using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant can increase ice-making efficiency by 30 percent and save around two million kilowatts of electricity per year.That’s why the choice was applauded by the IOC, which “fully supports” the decision and its implementation and won huge applause from the whole audience at the Atmosphere America convention.
The decision to use low-GWP refrigerants has already had a ripple effect throughout the Ice sports industry. There have been several new ice rink projects in China as well as a few more in North America that are now also planning on using low-GWP refrigerants as a result of China’s leadership in this field. This decision has put the importance of low-GWP refrigerants on the world stage and will be the tipping point as well.