Costa Rica. The so-called first refrigeration system with natural gases in the food manufacturing industry in Central America was implemented by the company Fifco in the Florida Retail manufacturing plant.
The new Refrigeration System with Natural Gases reduces 90% of the CO2 emissions of the plant and reduces by 16% the electricity consumption of its frozen warehouse. This project was supported by the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Fifco.
"For Costa Rica and the region, this is an important step in the process of replacing unfriendly and efficient technologies with new refrigeration and air conditioning systems with greater energy efficiency and lower impacts, both at the level of ozone depletion and in the issue of global warming," said Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez.
The authorities explained that the company replaced its cooling systems based on the R22 refrigerant. While the new system uses two cooling circuits, one of ammonia and one of carbon dioxide, the latter employed as a heat transfer fluid.
"This new system not only contributes directly to the company's environmental indicators, but to the country's goal of being carbon neutral by 2021. We hope that learning from developing this cutting-edge technology will be useful for other industries in Central America," said Fifco's Director of Corporate Relations, Gisela Sánchez.
Costa Rica has set out to be carbon neutral by 2021, which means offsetting all carbon emissions from its economy and those of its citizens.
