AUTOMOTIVE BREAKTHROUGH WITH NEW SHECCO™ TECHNOLOGY
18 February 2002 - Hydro Aluminium

Shecco™ is an energy efficient and 'green' heating and cooling technology that uses naturally occurring carbon dioxide. The patented technology was developed at SINTEF in Trondheim, and Hydro has the global and exclusive rights to license the technology.

Denso, based in Japan, is one of the three largest global manufacturers of automotive air-conditioning systems and key components. It supplies half the Japanese market and several international car companies with millions of systems every year.

'This is a breakthrough for the automotive industry,' says vice president and general manager Kjell Stenstadvold of Shecco Technology, a part of Hydro Pronova AS. 'We are most pleased that Denso, as a leader in its field, now is in a position to offer a 'green' solution to its automotive customers after signing the contract for the patented technology.'

GREENHOUSE GAS ALTERNATIVE
The driving force behind the introduction of Shecco™ Technology has been to find alternatives to the powerful greenhouse gases presently used as refrigerants in automotive air-conditioning (A/C) systems. Shecco™, however, has two additional benefits compared to current A/C systems: It helps reduce energy consumption by approximately 25 percent, and it significantly speeds up the interior heating of cars in cold winter conditions.

A recent report from the EU Environment Directorate indicates that by changing from present chemicals to natural carbon dioxide based systems, carmakers may reduce greenhouse gas emissions from European cars with 30 to 40 million tons (sum of leakage and reduced energy consumption) annually by 2010.

'This is a technology that will clearly benefit the environment,' says vice president Jan Hurlen of Shecco Technology. 'Denso will be the first to use our technology, but we expect others to follow suit. In particular the European car industry has been testing the technology for some years with promising results.'

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