Marc Chasserot, Founding President of ATMO. Photo ATMO America
Our President, Steven Bruneau returned from the ATMO America Summit with a feeling of satisfaction and with the impression that things are going to change in the refrigeration industry.
Accompanied by Charles Vanelslande, VP Engineering of the Groupe TechnoRef4 , our sister company, Mr. Bruneau attended many and various conferences. It must be said that the main subject of the event was CO2 refrigeration, the core specialty of the group. Indeed, it was in 2008 that the first installation of CO2 refrigeration equipment in North America was made while Mr. Normand Bruneau, President of Groupe TechnoRe4 was in charge of the project.
Renowned panelists took turns on the stage to deliver short presentations of +/- 20 minutes but packed with relevant information. We should mention the presence of Phillip Walker from Arneg Systems and André Patenaude from Emerson, two of our trusted suppliers, who participated in the expert panels. All the major players in the industry were present and the discussions were interesting and fruitful. Specialists presented, among other things, impact studies on natural and synthetic refrigerants, ammonia and of course CO2.
No suprisingly, everything had a lot of input from the American market conditions, but the Quebec market was still represented by the presence of four major CO2 equipment suppliers. It should be noted that looking at things from a Quebec perspective brings a different reading, particularly in relation to the environmental standards imposed by Quebec, well ahead of American standards.
“ATMO America gave us a pat on the back. What all these researchers and major players in the industry have told us is that we must continue what we have started and that our
approach is the best. » Discussions and intentions during the Summit, suggest that industry leaders will put more pressure on the various governments to improve the environmental standards currently tolerated.
“What I take from this Summit, said Mr. Bruneau, is that it is time to stop talking about equipment. We must stop pretending that the technology is not ready. It has been for some time now. And the industry needs to be more educated about CO2.”
Mr. Bruneau recognizes that Quebec has a head start in North America, but he sees what is happening in Europe with more avant-garde standards than ours. “It is certain that we will be in Brussels in November to participate in ATMO Europe and see what's coming up on the old continent”.
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