Young, ambitious and optimistic, Jessica de Villiers, a mechanical engineer from the Department of Transport and Public Works, is the first female candidate accepted into the COOL Training course offered to technicians of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) sector.

Stemming from a successful bilateral relationship of over 20 years, the Free State of Bavaria and the Western Cape Government has embarked on a partnership project on the “transition to climate-friendly refrigeration and air conditioning”, in 2017.

The RAC project saw the two Governments, working closely to reduce emissions of harmful refrigeration chemicals to the atmosphere, in line with the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol: Hydrofluorocarbons Phase-down.

Dr Joy Leaner, Director for Air Quality Management says with rising temperatures and extreme weather patterns, the demand for refrigeration and air conditioning in developing countries has escalated.

“The industrial RAC sector contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because they make use of fluorinated gases as refrigerants. Our agreement with Bavaria allows us to create a platform to share knowledge and skills in introducing more climate friendly refrigerants towards mitigating the sources that contribute to climate change.”