Hot topic

Figures have been misquoted and electricity has been confused with energy

You state that refrigeration and cooling account for 15% of all the energy used in the UK (“Innovation Nation,” PE November).

The total energy used in this country is 2,200TWh/annum, and 15% would amount to 330TWh/annum. However, the electricity consumption in the UK is only 400TWh/annum and, as nearly all mechanical refrigeration compressors are electrically driven, these figures would suggest that refrigeration consumes over 80% of all our total power production!

This is obviously wrong and your statement should read “consumes 15% of the total electricity generated in the UK”. This would amount to 60TWh/annum, a much lower figure, which I would endorse from my 40 years experience in this industry. Ever since global warming became a hot topic, figures have been misquoted and electricity has been confused with energy, much of which comes from oil and gas.

Magnetic refrigeration is not an entirely new concept. I can remember a paper read to the Institution of Refrigeration which dealt with magnetic refrigeration using gadolinium. I did not, at that time, believe that it could be commercialised, but perhaps I will be corrected in due course.  

Ken Gordon, Orpington, Kent