We all pretty much knew what the EPA’s final rulings concerning refrigerants would look like but we frankly won’t know all that much about what effect they will have for a while. As for the climate change conference in Copenhagen, it was a non-event. The problem was that everybody was not on the same page regarding climate concerns.

When you name your company “Doctor Cool & Professor Heat,” you know you are drawing attention to yourself and raising expectations. But it is more than a name, a concern for reputation, and a motto that has earned Doctor Cool & Professor Heat honors as The NEWS Best Contractor to Work For in the South region.

One of the few advantages of being ill on New Year’s Eve was being able to stay home and watch some of the Three Stooges marathon on AMC.

The world of refrigerants currently revolves around HFCs, ammonia, and CO2. But what about hydrocarbons such as propane, propene, and isobutane? They’ve been around seemingly forever and have many advocates. How might those hydrocarbons fit into the equation? Well, the answer probably relates more to geography than chemical formulas.

When supermarket engineers and others in that sector of the industry gathered in Indian Wells, Calif., for the annual Food Marketing Institute Energy & Technical Services conference, they were expecting the typical updates on energy-efficiency efforts and new technologies to achieve that. They got all that - and a lot more.

I was nine years old when the movie “The Blob” first came out - way too young to go to such a “scary” movie.

Well, it didn’t take long for potential trouble to arise over the proposed wind farm near where I live. No sooner did the county board OK the project, than the threat of the lawsuit arose concerning the process by which it was approved.

I am writing this, my last column of 2009, only moments after I finished the rough draft of a nearly 2,000-word story that appears elsewhere in this issue. That story was written to meet this issue’s focus, “Refrigerant Revolution – An 11th Hour Update.” One of the most interesting things about these refrigerant predictions is that nobody really knows for certain what will occur.

It is truly the 11th hour for most all things related to refrigerants. The year 2009 was a pivotal year leading up to dramatic changes in 2010 in terms of refrigerants used and refrigerant supplies. But much remains undone and much uncertainty surrounds what will happen when things get done.

“Freon” was one manufacturer’s brand name for CFC refrigerants, but it seemed to become an almost generic word for all refrigerants.