THE United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says it is replacing chillers in Nigeria and five other African countries to eliminate the use of ozone depleting substances.
Chillers are refrigeration systems that produce chilled water for cooling air in commercial, residential and industrial process and UNIDO is the main agent for the implementation of the project worth € 5.3 million.
A statement signed by UNIDO Spokesperson in Vienna, Mr. George Assaf and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said the other countries are Cameroon, Egypt, Namibia, Senegal and Sudan.
It said that the project, known as the African Chiller Replacement Project, (ACRP), was launched by UNIDO to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels through improved energy efficiency.
The statement said the Secretary-General of the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), a co-financier of the project, Marc-Antoine Martin and UNIDO Director General, Kandeh Yumkella, had signed the agreement stipulating the roles of both parties in the exercise.
``The agreement between UNIDO and FFEM will help implement an innovative and commercially viable strategy for replacing CFC-based chillers in six African countries.
``This will help remove relevant barriers and includes the transfer of green technology, the creation of a working fund mechanism, the management of CFC stockpiles and the dissemination of awareness to chiller operators and end-users and governments of the countries involved,'' Yumkella said
The statement said surveys conducted in Cameroon, Egypt, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan identified a total of 340 chillers that used chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) as refrigerants, with over 85 per cent of the chillers located in Egypt and Nigeria.
According to the statement, replacing the chillers with new ones that are 40 per cent more energy efficient will lead to indirect reduction of some 462,400 tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions per year.
``It will equally bring about a direct phase-out of around 80 tonnes of CFCs required for servicing the chillers annually,'' UNIDO added.
The Permanent Representative of France to the UN in Vienna, Ambassador Florence Mangin, said, ``this project illustrates our commitment to an effective participation of developing countries in environmental protection by modernising their equipment.
``It also brings out the necessity of a synergy between the implementation of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer and of the Kyoto Protocol, in particular, with regards to energy efficiency.''
Source: The Guardian Newspaper (online) found in business section
Submitted by Donmale Gbaanador, Monday August 17, 2009
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