Released on: September 6, 2007, 9:59 am

Press Release Author: Marc Chasserot

Industry: Automotive

Press Release Summary: German carmakers have confirmed their choice of the natural
refrigerant CO2 in car air conditioning in an official press release issued today.
This puts pressure on other carmakers worldwide to follow suit.

Press Release Body: Brussels, 6 September 2007:-- VDA President (German Automotive
Industry Association), Matthias Wissmann has confirmed today with an official press
release the choice of environmentally friendly CO2 car air conditioning. All eyes
are now on other manufacturers worldwide to follow suit.
\"We welcome this courageous decision by German car makers to lead the world with
sustainable air conditioning", says Wolfgang Lohbeck, Greenpeace's Head of Technical
Innovations and Projects, and supporter of the Alliance for CO2 Solutions.
"With this joint step the German car manufacturers are taking the lead in climate
friendly refrigerants and putting action their strategy for sustainable mobility".
Wissmann states in the VDA Press release. This decision effectively puts an end in
Germany to long discussions about which systems to choose in order to comply with an
EU Directive banning high global warming refrigerant from 2011.
Other car manufacturers from Europe, Asia and America are now faced with increasing
pressure to make a sustainable choice. "New chemical blends that were proposed
recently are no longer an option, as the VDA members have stated. The other chemical
option discussed in the past was HFC-152a. However, this substance poses a number of
risks: it is flammable, it can decompose into toxic substances, it will be more
complicated technically and costly than current technology, in addition to being
over 100 times worse for global warming than CO2", Lohbeck concludes.

The Alliance for CO2 Solutions is a grouping of organisations that support the use
of CO2 Technology in car air conditioning. Its supporters include Greenpeace,
Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Ixetic, Konvekta, SINTEF and Shecco.

- ENDS -

Web Site: http://www.alliance-CO2-solutions.org

Contact Details: Contact: Marc Chasserot
Tel: +32 (0)2 280 6735
Email: info@alliance-CO2-solutions.org
Website: www.alliance-CO2-solutions.org