The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has commissioned a comprehensive study to measure the total value and size of the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) industry in Australia.
The report will attempt to estimate the total economic activity in the industry including its total value, number of people employed, and number of businesses in the sector.
It will also update earlier analysis of the installed equipment base, the total energy consumption of RAC equipment, and direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from various equipment segments and trends in equipment and working gases.
The department has engaged the Expert Group and Thinkwell Australia to undertake the study with preliminary findings expected to be available in May, 2013.
There will also be a dedicated chapter on low GWP alternatives (natural and others) and their market penetration.
According to the department: "Several suppliers of natural refrigerants have approached the department offering to provide independent consultants with access to data such as market volumes and sector so government and industry can establish a clearer market picture."
A spokesperson for the department said the objective of this project is to ensure the Australian government has an up-to-date source of information on the RAC industry in Australia.
"Information obtained in this study will provide essential input into the planning
of training and education requirements for sector, and will contribute to the ongoing management of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases, as well as the rapidly emerging natural alternatives," the spokesperson said.
Specific areas to be covered in the study include:
the cold chain as it relates to food and agriculture, including food processing;
large scale retail across both display units and storage units (including cold rooms);
medium and small retail across both display units and storage units;
automotive and mobile air conditioning such as commercial and public bus fleets, trains, commercial aviation and refrigerated food transport, including maritime;
residential and non residential ventilation and air conditioning systems;
process chillers and industrial refrigeration plus;
other industrial refrigeration and air conditioning such as air chilling for mine sites and chilling or refrigeration required for manufacturing and in processes.
Expert Group managing director Peter Brodribb said it was too early to discuss the study but confirmed the findings will be used to create a report that will be made available to industry.
"Industry can use it for their own purposes and to help communicate the scale and importance of the RAC industry to a wider public audience," he said.
