Looking at the refrigeration challenge holistically is the best solution to achieve sustainability

In this issue, we interviewed Dr. Yosr Allouche who was elected as the new Director-General of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), an inter-governmental organization which was founded in 1908 and is based in Paris. She took up the new role in October 2024 also becoming the first female DG of IIR, succeeding Didier Coulomb. Dr. Allouche is a Norwegian-Tunisian refrigeration scientist and a world-renowned academic. She has over 15 years of experience in addressing refrigeration challenges and promoting sustainable refrigeration practices.

In this exclusive interview, Dr. Allouche spoke to UNIDO Montreal Protocol Unit’s Elena Miceva and Jayaraj Manepalli about her journey, the cooling challenges the industry faces, the need for research and industry application, importance of multilateral agencies like UNIDO, the necessity of accelerating sustainable cooling technologies, among others.

Congratulations Dr. Allouche on your new role. Coming from an academic environment to an intergovernmental agency might have been a big shift career-wise. Could you give us a background on your life and professional journey?

Thank you! It has been an intense and enriching transition period taking over from Didier Coulomb. I come from an academic background and am a refrigeration scientist. My family was supportive of my pursuits, and I always looked for challenges and to never stop learning. 

I studied mechanical engineering and completed my doctoral studies as an Erasmus student from the University of Porto in Portugal. My journey with refrigeration started while reviewing PhD proposals. I came across one on solar-driven ejector cooling systems, which I found fascinating. The idea of achieving cooling through solar energy was quite interesting and led me to explore this area. That is how I entered the world of refrigeration. After finishing my PhD in 2016, I went to do research at the Energy Process Technologies department at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). My work mainly focused on CO₂ refrigeration systems with integrated PCM energy storage, and I learned a lot from Professor Armin Hafner. I joined NTNU as a postdoc, continued as a refrigeration researcher and then as an associate professor in refrigeration.

Later, I moved to France and had the opportunity to be associated with the work of the IIR. I served as the Head of Projects for three years when the Norwegian delegation proposed me as a candidate for the Director-General of IIR. I was subsequently elected by the majority of the IIR member countries.

Having spent over years in research and academia, I now look at the issues from a different perspective. My academic background and research complement my current work. I am still a researcher, but I now also look at the real-world implementation part—identify the gaps and how to integrate the volumes of research data we have into policy making and actual implementation.

Can you explain to our readers the work of the International Institute of Refrigeration—its priorities and the direction it has been taking in the last few years. 

IIR is a unique Inter Governmental Organization 100% dedicated to refrigeration and heat pump science. The IIR provides independent, research-backed third-party advice in these fields. It has 58 member states. IIR was a visionary organization in the sense that it was promoting the use of natural refrigerants since its early days.

Owing to its long history, the IIR has a wealth of knowledge–drawn from over 400 of the world’s top scientists and experts–which we are happy to share this knowledge with industry and all other stakeholders. This includes knowledge in areas like cryogenics and liquified gases, thermodynamics, refrigeration equipment and systems, biology and food technology, refrigerated storage and transport, air conditioning, heat pumps and energy recovery, all applying non-ozone depleting and low global warming refrigerants. The IIR recommends technology based on scientific evidence. Our technology briefs are well known in the industry. We seek to bridge the gaps between research and industry on the one hand and between research and policy making on the other.

The IIR engages in extensive research and publishes numerous technical briefs, policy briefs, webinars, newsletters, and co-owns with Elsevier, the International Journal of Refrigeration, the unique scientific journal in the refrigeration field. IIR also organizes many conferences, especially the International Congress of Refrigeration, Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Refrigerants, Conference on Sustainability and the Cold Chains, Conference on Compressors and Refrigerants, Cryogenics, among others. Innovation remains the key area of our work as we work with all stakeholders.

I want to make our knowledge products available to raise awareness on the importance of new and climate-friendly technologies. IIR also wantsto focus on projects supporting education and knowledge transfer, especially to the countries in the global south. Because the needs in the south are different than those in the north. For example, the focus on the global north where research around refrigeration and heat pumps is well developed is to be part of a unique international network of pioneering researchers and experts in the refrigeration sector.  The needs in the Countries of the global south are different. It is more on how we can enable implementation and create infrastructure, with examples from other countries, support them with capacity building programmes. We need to make this crucial knowledge transfer which can be adapted to specific conditions and needs of a country. I envisage the IIR to be the first go-to advisor for governments when discussing technologies to invest in and implement in the local refrigeration industry.

What are the challenges we face regarding refrigeration? What are some potential measures we could adopt to address these challenges?

Refrigeration plays a crucial role in our daily life. Currently, 12% of the world’s food production is lost due to inadequate cold chains. Food that if saved, could nourish over 950 million people who go hungry each day. Each year, 1.5 million people year lose their lives due to vaccine-preventable diseases, while over 20% of pharmaceutical products are damaged due to broken cold-chains.

Increasing temperatures also influence labour productivity—leading to a reduction in productivity by as much as 12% in South Asia and West Africa by 2050, resulting in up to 6% GDP loss annually. Increased heat stress can reduce global GDP by $2.4 trillion in 2030. Access to high quality, safe food, human comfort, and temperature-sensitive health products are fundamental rights that must be protected. Strengthening refrigeration and cold chain infrastructure is essential to addressing these challenges, hence the urgent need to find cooling solutions that are sustainable.

However, Refrigeration is energy-intensive and consumes approximately 20% of global electricity and this demand is projected to double by 2050 without decisive policy action. In parallel, millions of electrically driven heat pumps are needed to substitute fossil fuel heating. To keep the 1.5-degree scenario within reach, it is important to address the challenge.

I believe there are three main goals we all need to strive for in this sector.

1. Promote low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants
2. Focus on energy efficiency
3. Reduce the cooling demand

Before even looking at the refrigerant selection and energy efficiency, it is important to deep dive into how we can reduce the cooling demand. There are numerous passive opportunities available to reduce this cooling demand. All tools and knowledge to support the deployment of new energy-efficient equipment and the selection of the appropriate refrigerant already exist.

But we need to be careful to look at the issue holistically, because “low-GWP” does not mean it is energy efficient, and vice versa. Energy efficiency and type of refrigerant are linked. For instance, if you select a low-GWP refrigerant and thus reduce the direct emissions from refrigerant leakage, but your system is not energy efficient and leads to increased indirect emissions, it does not make sense. It is important to consider all these factors at the same time. We need to find a compromise between these three goals to find the best solution to achieve sustainability. This also has great potential to mitigate climate change.

What do you think of women in cooling sector? As the first woman Director-General of the IIR your voice especially matters in this crucial area.

The IIR has been around since 1908, always led by men. My election was primarily based on my credentials and the vision for IIR and the voting by the members. In this sense, it is a big achievement for women, and I am very happy to be elected. I also believe that we need more women in leadership in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector.

There is an increasing awareness on the cooling sector, and we are witnessing many women engineers and technicians entering the field. We also see a growing number of engineering students interested in the new career opportunities in the area. Numerous scholarship programmes for women to study refrigeration technology is a positive step which encourages women participation. 

Women technicians, especially in smaller towns and villages in my view, can also effectively convey the messages and good practices on refrigeration and environmental protection. Even though the signs look promising, there is much more to do. We need to build a capable and skilled workforce of refrigeration technicians across many countries, training them to operate and maintain a system safely and efficiently.

At IIR, we are actively involved with the International Network of Women in Cooling (INWIC), looking at how to empower more women in the cooling sector. The IIR took the INWIC Presidency this year. We are also very active in CaRe (Careers in Refrigeration) where we talk to young people about the opportunities in the sector and how they can efficiently contribute to the transition of the sector.

The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol emphasizes the role of energy efficiency and sustainable cooling, as observed in the recent decisions of the Executive Committee. How can we address this challenge and offer sustainable solutions?

I think this is the right direction and we have seen numerous studies which highlighted the need for sustainable refrigeration technologies. Taking the example from the success of the Montreal Protocol which paved way for global efforts towards climate action, we need to involve all stakeholders and emphasize the urgency of adopting the right climate solutions.

The Call to Action on extreme heat by United Nations Secretary General stresses on the urgency of the problem. I believe we need to engage in more conversations with the stakeholders, with the technology providers, energy companies, refrigeration equipment manufacturers and others. When we look at the potential to reduce food wastage using energy-efficient technologies, we understand that adding pre-cooling at farm stage is important to address food security challenges.

We need to focus on a holistic approach addressing multiple challenges. Opting for space cooling, building with climate friendly material and technologies, district cooling and passive cooling measures in our new constructions and urban planning–these measures help us to look at the challenges holistically. Technologies like the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air conditioning systems which can lead to expanded capacity and energy efficiency improvements—with both heating and cooling options– could be considered. VRF is an advanced system that provides precise control over the amount of refrigerant flowing to multiple indoor units. This enables the choice of individualized heating and cooling in different zones of a building. Of course, policy makers need to take informed policy decisions based on scientific evidence.

How can UNIDO and IIR work together and capitalize on their strengths to address the cooling challenge and offer solutions?

UNIDO has earlier worked with IIR and published a few best practices in various aspects of refrigeration and cooling. I believe it is important to continue and deepen the cooperation. As a specialized UN agency tasked with industrial development, it is important that we ensure that industrialization is sustainable and addresses the climate challenges. It is important to incorporate more evidence-based policy and latest research in the policies and programmes UNIDO formulates and designs because these actions shape our future.

Our work impacts policy making. It is important to work closely with national ozone officers, develop national capacity building—be it by way of training the refrigeration technicians and officers, policy makers or the enforcement agencies or strengthening institutional capacity—every stakeholder’s role is important to address the triple planetary crises and to reach the SDGs. Integrating and scaling up global climate action efforts hold the key to protecting our planet.  We look forward to strengthening our cooperation and diffuse the knowledge and best practices at a field level.