JEDDAH, 17 March 2005 — Solvay Fluor und Derivate of Germany (Solvay), the first company in the world to stop production and sale of chloro fluoro carbons — the gases that deplete the ozone layer — would form a technical team to give free consultations to any company or user in Saudi Arabia which is interested in initiating the CFC conversion process.
“Experts will come from Solvay. They have more experience than us in this matter and will show the best ways to convert,” Rami Nasser, commercial manager, Saudi Industrial Gas Co. Ltd. (SIGAS), told Arab News during a seminar on ozone depleting refrigeration gases and substitutes held here on Tuesday.
SIGAS, a leading supplier of refrigeration gases in the Kingdom, is the exclusive distributor for Solkane brand of refrigerants manufactured by Solvay, which is ranked second in the world in manufacturing refrigeration gases, and is classified as a “green company”.
“As Saudi Arabia falls under the developing nations category, there are still a few more years left before all imports of CFCs would be banned under the Montreal Protocol,” said Nasser.
“SIGAS, a 50-year-old company involved in manufacturing and supplying liquid, industrial and medical gases, organized a series of seminars with Solvay in preparation for that and as a contribution to the environment and society,” he added. The first seminar was held in Alkhobar on Sunday and the third in Riyadh on Monday.
He explained that the Saudi market comprises two main segments. “There are users who are the manufacturers and they are up to the international standards. There are small companies that are still using the gases that affect the environment and deplete the ozone,” he said. The big plants consume big quantities, and they are the main ones that need to change.
The Saudi government has already banned any new equipment using CFCs. The problem is with the old systems that are still running on CFCs. The effort is to convince the users that it should not be costly for them to change, and moreover, they would be protecting the environment.
“We are trying to convince them to take the decision now. The prices of CFCs are going higher because of lack of production, and we are giving them a substitute of how to convert,” he added.
They don’t need to change the complete system. What is required is just some mechanical modifications and switchover to a gas that is safer for the environment. The world production of CFCs would stop in 2010.
