It’s been said that the essence of leadership is first having a vision.
The clarity of Carrier’s vision for sustainable technologies has been undeniable from our start 108 years ago when Willis Carrier invented modern air-conditioning. Then, it was a mechanical system to remove humidity from a printing plant. The result: by preventing paper from sticking together and jamming presses, waste was reduced and resources preserved…and yes, it also led to the delivery of more comfortable air in which to work and live.
Carrier is a pioneer in sustainability, being among the first corporations with the discipline to set energy-reduction goals (1988) and environment and safety goals (1992). We’ve helped transform the markets we serve in sustainable directions. In the 1990s, Carrier led the container industry away from CFCs and HCFCs to R-134a, a non-ozone-depleting refrigerant with a global warming potential (GWP) of 1320, nearly one-third its nearest rival and an 84 percent improvement over the CFCs used before.
Now, the environmental tides are turning again, with the industry seeking refrigerants with still lower GWPs. And that’s why our vision has led us to the natural refrigerant with the lowest GWP possible today: One. You can read more about our experience with natural refrigerants in this issue of ContainerLINE.
Natural refrigerants may be the wave of the future, but energy efficiency remains the watchword for the present, and momentum for the PrimeLINE® unit continues to grow. Clearly the PrimeLINE unit owes much of its success to a vision to create the most energy efficient container refrigeration unit. As of this writing, orders for 2010 were on pace to surpass all competitive units for the third consecutive year, exceeded only by our ThinLINE® unit, the industry stalwart for three decades.
We are pleased to report that this year Evergreen Line ordered its first 2,000 PrimeLINE units and Chiquita nearly quintupled its PrimeLINE inventory with an additional 4,700 units. Hamburg Süd added 6,500 PrimeLINE units on top of the 3,000 it acquired last year. Dole expanded its PrimeLINE unit commitment as part of a sweeping modernization and sustainability initiative. Significantly, Crowley Maritime’s reefer container fleet is now one quarter PrimeLINE, based on purchases made in the second half of 2010. Some of these examples are covered more completely in this issue of ContainerLINE.
Whether our customers’ priorities are maximum efficiency or refrigerants that offer the lowest potential environmental impact, Carrier’s vision remains clear, and we will continue to invest in development of leading-edge container refrigeration technologies. As we move into the new year, we look forward to partnering with our customers on further natural refrigerant technology trials.
We wish all of you a rewarding 2011 …naturally!
Kartik Kumar, Director of Marketing and
Strategic Planning, Global Container Refrigeration