German Environmental Minister honors Bock Compressors with Innovation Award

In advance of the climate summit in Copenhagen, German Environmental Minister Dr. Norbert Röttgen addressed a widely underestimated cutting edge technology: refrigeration and air-conditioning, which consumes 15 % of the nation's electical energy. He conferred the 2009 Climate Protection Innovation Award in Refrigeration Technology at a technical conference on the topic on December 8, 2009 in Berlin; the German Environmental Ministry [Bundesumweltministerium] (BMU) honors especially innovative companies in the industry with this award.

A total prize amount of 52,500 Euros is awarded to exemplary practical examples with this prize, which was given out for the second time this year by the Environmental Ministry. The awarding of the prize took place during the technical conference "Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Technology in the Context of National and International Climate Protection Policy".

The German government intends to lower electric energy usage by 11% by 2020. Savings potential is without a doubt high in refrigeration and air-conditioning technology. Refrigeration and air-conditioning systems consume about 15% of the electrical energy in Germany. The savings potential for commercial refrigeration systems achievable by using high-efficiency components and systems is on average 35% and is therefore much higher than in other technological areas.

The prize was awarded to technologies and systems that enable a lowering of energy consumption by 35% in commercial refrigeration systems only. This corresponds to 9.5 million tons of CO2 annually, which would achieve more than 4 % of the German climate protection goals by 2020 all by itself.

Refrigeration systems are generally designed for maximum demands as are usually encountered during the hottest summer months. For the rest of the year, this means that systems are usually overdesigned and the refrigeration capacity provided has to be adjusted according to actual requirements as necessary. Bock took on this problem with its EFC system (Electronic Frequency Control) and found potential for savings.

With its EFC system, Bock offers a simple and efficient solution to this problem; this solution was distinguished by the environmental minister, Röttgen, with an innovation prize. With this plug & play solution by Bock, potential savings of 25% or more have been uncovered just in the compressor components alone.

The Bock EFC system is already being used in thousands of refrigeration systems all over the world, and is saving many tons of CO2 every day. Bock Kältemaschinen GmbH is a medium-sized, family-run company headed by its Managing Directors Wolfgang Etter, Heinrich Reuß and Udo Klaußner. Bock compressors are used exclusively in commercial and industrial applications for stationary and mobile cooling systems and in air conditioning systems. The company currently employs around 330 personnel worldwide, 250 of which are at the company headqaurters in Frickenhausen, and achieves an annual turnover of approximately €56 million.

http://www.co2online.de/kampagnen-und-projekte/projekte/klimaschutz-mit-kaeltetechnik/index.html