RSS, Environment Ministry launches COOL-UP project

AMMAN — The Royal Scientific Society (RSS), in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, has begun implementation of the COOL-UP project, to reduce energy consumption in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems in Jordan and to switch to the use of environmentally friendly refrigerants.

The implementation of the project was announced during a meeting held on October 25-26   at the RSS with the participation of all parties involved in its implementation, namely the Ministry of Environment and the RSS, in partnership with the German Company Guidehouse, according to a RSS statement. 

The project is funded by the German Ministry of Environment under the framework of the regional COOL-UP Programme.

The vice-president/executive director of the Sustainable Solutions Sector at RSS, Rafat Assi, highlighted the continuity of the partnership between the RSS and the Ministry of Environment in implementing many important environmental activities, programmes and projects. 

Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment Mohammed Al Khashashneh stressed the importance of this project and its objectives, which are in line with the national goals of reducing energy consumption and supporting the gradual phase-out of the use of hydrofluorocarbon gases, according to the requirements of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. 

Khashashneh added that Jordan ratified the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol in 1989 and is a party to all subsequent protocol amendments. 

Based on the Jordanian government’s commitments towards these agreements, CFCs were phased out before 2010 through a financial and technical support provided by the Montreal Fund for Developing Countries, he noted. 

Jordan has also succeeded in getting rid of HFCs in the air-conditioning and refrigeration sector within the first phase and in the building insulation sector, the insulation materials industry and the services sector within the second phase, in addition to transferring environmentally friendly technology and building national capacities, the statement said.