TABLE OF CONTENTS

European Industry Survey
As a sub-set from the global industry survey (see page
28), and to find out where the European NR industry
might be heading over the coming years, only respondents
active for organisations located in Europe were selected
for further analysis. Hence, out of the initial 1,338
individuals completing the survey, 666 were heard on
items as varied as information sources for natural refrigerants,
the use of NR products & services today and in
the foreseeable future, or the overall policy & business
climate for NR. Participants also analysed barriers and
strengths of natural working fluids, and attempted an
outlook into the period until 2020 to evaluate the market
presence NR would have per industry sector.
Strongest Interest in the UK, Italy, Germany
& Denmark
Most respondents taking the survey are located in the
UK (14%), followed by Italy and Germany (11%), and
Denmark (7%). This is not a surprising result as especially
in those countries many leading system and component
suppliers for NR technology are to be found that are active
across Europe and beyond. Despite its small overall
industry size, the Danish HVAC&R industry was strongly
represented – a result of its wide use of HFC-free technologies
and developed expertise on NR. By geographic
region, Western Europe is represented with 49%, Southern
Europe with 26%, Northern Europe with 17% and
Eastern Europe with 8%.
Most respondents (50%) represented a small organisation
with less than 100 employees. Close to 19% came
from a medium-sized enterprise, and 31% represented
large organisations with more than 500 staff members.
Manufacturers & suppliers leading response
group
As regards the main types of activities, 47% of respondents
represented a system manufacturer, followed by engineering
& contractor, component suppliers and training
& research providers. As multiple choice was allowed,
it can be concluded that a high number of organisations
are active in several fields. Crosstabs applied to the total
response set regarding the organisation’s size indicated
that mostly very big or very small companies were represented
in the manufacturing business, whereas component
supply was mostly done by small businesses. The
engineering / contractors business is strongly dominated
by small companies (149 responses for “small” versus
42 for “medium” and 39 for “large”), as well as the consultancy
/ marketing business.
Commercial & Industrial Refrigeration
A large majority of 69% and 66% are active for companies
involved in commercial refrigeration and industrial
refrigeration. This is unsurprising as these two industry
sectors are currently among the most promising ones
for the use of natural refrigerants until 2020, as industry’s
forecasts have shown (see page 104). The Mobile Air
Conditioning, Transport Refrigeration and Domestic Refrigeration
sectors are only represented to a significantly
lower extent. This can be explained by the unfavourable
climates for NR use in the first two cases, and the lack
of interest in taking the survey following the established
market situation for HC refrigerators across Europe in the
latter case.
Again, the commercial refrigeration sector is mostly represented
by small companies (223 responses) as compared
to large companies (149 responses). The same
distribution pattern is applicable for the industrial refrigeration
sector.
The Future of NR Products
An overwhelming majority of those taking the survey
(75%) already had NR products and services in their portfolio,
hence expressing their strong interest in more consolidated
data in this specific area. Among those offering
NR solutions, most offered CO 2
-based products and/
or services. However, it has to be noted that distribution
is relatively balanced between the three refrigerant options.
17% showed clear leadership by offering technology
for all three refrigerants CO 2
, ammonia and hydrocarbons.
As regards the organisation size, small businesses
are represented to a higher-than-average extent in the
NR industry taking the survey, followed by large companies
with more than 500 staff members.
In the future CO 2
will increase in importance for the respective
organisations, with 42% stating that future
products and services would involve R744-based solutions.
The percentage of businesses offering technology
for all three refrigerants is also expected to increase.
90