On October 1, refrigeration scientist Yosr Allouche will become the Director General of the Paris-based International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) – the first woman to assume this role in the 116-year history of the international educational organization.
A native of Tunisia who spent many years in Norway, Allouche is the first non-French national to lead the IIR. She was elected Director General last year at the 26th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration in Paris. She has had a year to prepare for the role, working with the man she will succeed, Didier Coulomb, who has held the spot for 20 years. She will be eligible to run for re-election after five years.
Since June 2021, Allouche has served as head of projects at the IIR, coordinating the implementation of clean and energy-efficient solutions in projects in the cold chains of developing countries. Over the past six years, she has fulfilled various roles at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), including Research Scientist and Associate Professor in refrigeration technology.
Allouche, who holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto in Portugal, has authored or co-authored numerous articles in scientific journals, guides and reports. Her work has encompassed CO2 (R744) transcritical systems, steam ejector modeling and thermal energy storage using phase-change materials.
IIR’s partners include 59 governments in developed and developing countries, international and national organizations, universities, companies, research centers and refrigeration professionals.
IIR member countries benefit from a range of services designed to:
- promote knowledge of refrigeration;
- set up expertise networks;
- provide key information on refrigeration within the country; and
- assist with the implementation of national plans in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals connected to refrigeration.
At the 16th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Refrigerants, held August 12–14 at the University of Maryland, Allouche sat down for an interview with ATMOsphere’s NaturalRefrigerants.com about her plans for the IIR. The following transcript was edited for clarity. (Gustav Lorentzen was a Norwegian scientist who in the late 1980s reinvented how CO2 could be used as a refrigerant in cooling and heating.)
So you take over on October 1.
Yes, I’m looking forward to that. I’ve been on it from the day I was elected last year during the Congress in Paris. I was proposed by the Norwegian delegation because I have Norwegian citizenship; Norway is a member country of the IIR, and I was elected. I believe I can capture the big potential of the IIR, to develop it, to make a real impact in the sector and in our member countries as well.
It has been a one-year handover. At the beginning I thought, this is too much – in one year many things can happen. But I now believe it was very good because it has been non-stop learning. Didier Coulomb, the current Director General of the IIR, has been very supportive. We have been really very much working together, adopting a collaborative approach. I have learned a lot from him, from his 20 years of experience. He has a very good understanding of the IIR, the network and the sector. So I was able to have this background information. He will be still in the network, of course, but he’s going to retire.
I know the IIR from the outside because I have been publishing articles. And now I have had the chance to know it from the inside since I joined the IIR two years before my election. I’m coming from academia as an associate professor in refrigeration, so I have been learning every single day about the other aspects. Of course, from the technology point of view, we are also always learning. We don’t stop.
There is also this other policy area that, as a scientist, I was not aware of. Looking at the IIR from the inside and participating in UN activities and events gave me the opportunity to understand the policy side and to understand that there is a very big gap between science and policy. This is what I’m trying to do – to build on this and try to bridge this gap.
IIR’s scope includes all aspects of refrigeration?
Yes, it goes from cryogenics to food and health supply chains, AC and heat pumps. But we are aware that it can create some confusion when it comes to communicating to policymakers. So now in the new strategy we are clearly citing heat pumps, including high temperature heat pumps, and you know how important heat pumps are becoming, specifically in Europe. We are not only looking at thermal compression systems but also passive cooling and other technologies like magnetic cooling.
What do you see as IIR’s main role?
It’s bringing everybody under the same umbrella, like ATMOsphere and IIAR (International Institute of All-Natural Refrigeration) here at the IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference.
There are many IGOs and NGOs like CLASP, United for Efficiency, Cooling Coalition, Green Cooling Initiative. I understand that everyone would like to demonstrate its contribution or impact. But I believe at some point, if we would like to make a concrete impact, we need to sit all together and to connect these different networks. Because we are serving the sector. We are serving the society. We are serving the climate. We are defending the same aim.
How can this collaboration better serve society?
We are scientists and technology people. But if we don’t know how to reach policymakers, we won’t create any impact. And the policymaking world is a very complex one. We need to know how to speak to them. The technology information is very complex to them. So this is why we need to make sure we are conveying the information in the most understandable way. If we would like to maximize our impact, why not all sit together and work together? IIR’s new strategic plan will reinforce this kind of collaboration.
You need also to understand that policymakers are not really aware about natural refrigerants. The topic is overlooked. They are very much energy-efficiency specific. If you would like to intensify the presence of natural refrigerants, the natural refrigerants community needs to have a kind of coalition to reinforce their presence at UN events like MOP (Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol) and COP (Conference of the Parties on climate change), where all the decisions are taken.
IIR modeling work shows indirect emissions from refrigeration account for about 63% of its total greenhouse gas emissions, and the rest is direct emissions from leakage of refrigerants. So some people say we need to focus on energy efficiency to lower indirect emissions. No, I’m sorry, we need to do simultaneous work. We need three pillars. We need to strive to reduce cooling demand, improve energy efficiency and use environmentally friendly refrigerants, all at the same time. Unfortunately, there is a lack of understanding about this combination.
Tell us more about IIR’s new strategic plan.
I’m happy to say that the IIR has, after this one-year transition, developed a new strategic plan which is very ambitious and delivers concrete actions to member countries in the network. It has been very detailed work. We have been doing consultations with our member countries, with our scientific and technical committees and with our members, and based on the feedback from the management committee, we have built a very good strategic plan. The public version will be soon published, probably in October or November.
Do you think the strategic plan will help to bridge the gap between policy and science?
This is a goal, and I’m sure we will get there. Policy makers need to listen to science to make sure they are shaping the appropriate policies. Since its creation in 1908 IIR has been scientifically based, information based. But the good thing now – and I believe this is a first step that I’m very proud of – is that our executive committee, meaning the country delegates, have validated and approved the new strategic plan. One of the actions is to expand the IIR to cover the policy area as well. So soon you will have a policy and global partnership role.
We are the only intergovernmental organization in the world specializing in refrigeration. There are many other organizations, but they are looking at things through different lenses, some from the ozone lens, others from the climate change lens. But we are looking at all of this at the same time. We are the only ones. So I would like to value this, and bringing technology and policy together is the only way to make an impact.
IIR has been very, very careful from the moment it was created about the fact that we are independent, unbiased and pragmatic. We provide unbiased information. Our bible is science. We are only communicating on scientifically proved information. It’s very important for us to preserve this unbiased role. We are expanding to policy, though it doesn’t mean that we are taking any position. We are just engaging in debates, trying to understand what’s happening, and when possible, recommend some technologies to address some issues.
So we are educating policymakers but also giving a better understanding for academia and scientists about the policy world as well. They don’t know what’s going on. They know the high-level information about the Paris and Kigali agreements, but there are too many other things being discussed that they don’t know about. We are trying to convey the messages from one side to another, going both ways.
So you have a lot of ambitious plans.
A lot, and let me tell you something, it will not be done overnight. That’s for sure!
You are the first woman to lead the IIR, which is great. Will you try to bring more women into the refrigeration field?
This is not new to the IIR because we are also supporting the IMWIC (International Network for Women in Cooling), the group empowering women in cooling. It’s a UNEP initiative, but the IIR is supporting it. We also have our own working group called Careers in Refrigeration, which is not only about women but young people as well. We need to recognize something the sector is terribly lacking – young people. For years now we have been addressing this in the IIR, but we probably don’t have enough visibility, so this is why we are also working with UN entities, like this IMWIC group. And I’m also happy to say that the IIR is taking the presidency of this group in 2025. I believe it’s a very good message.
I’m happy that in a male-dominated sector, a woman is in a leadership role. I hope it will encourage more women to take an influential position in a male-dominated world. If I can be inspiring, that would be very good.
The IIR-Gustav Lorentzen conference is focused on natural refrigerants. Your background at NTNU includes work with CO2 and water (R718). To what extent will IIR focus on natural refrigerants?
The IIR has an independent role which is very important for us to preserve. As I said, our bible is science. From the moment that technology is scientifically proved and has a legal framework to exist, then we communicate about it.
But we know the direction of climate change and that concrete actions need to be taken. And the IIR has been very much aware of this for years and years. This is the 16th IIR-Gustav Lorentzen Conference on Natural Refrigerants. It started in 1994. This has always been our conference. Gustav Lorentzen used to be a president of one of our commissions. It also shows that IIR is visionary.
We know the history of natural refrigerants since the early 1900s. They were the original refrigerants. We have discovered the impact of other refrigerants, but natural refrigerants are a secure area and have value. So it is “natural” for us to communicate on it and promote it, and we are doing this at the Gustav Lorentzen Conference. But we are open to all refrigerants which are, again, scientifically proved and have the policy framework and are environmentally friendly.
This is why I believe it is important for IIR to inform policymakers. We are not shaping policies; we provide the information, the data, the science. We are not lobbying. We are scientifically based.
Does IIR plan to look at the PFAS issue involving refrigerants from a scientific point of view?
It’s very good that all the scientific work is being done in this area, but we are still at an early stage. I don’t have the chemistry background, but if the chemistry and medical people say clearly that this is decomposing, impacting our health, drinking water, fruits and vegetables and so on, then the science speaks for itself. It’s very good now that at least the topic is raised; it’s open for consultation, for research. I’m waiting to see, to discuss, to learn. But, naturally, if we are taking action for climate, we need also to take action for people. I’m looking at the next generation, my two kids. I’m concerned about this topic, and I’m really looking forward to finally seeing an agreed scientific proof.
Right now I’m seeing two groups: one saying that it’s proved it is having an impact, the other saying it doesn’t bioaccumulate. From an the IIR perspective, we are in an observation phase. IIR doesn’t take any position. We are following this. If our experts are called to contribute to this research work, we would be very happy to support it. But again, I believe that through the promotion of natural refrigerants we are visionary as well.
Do you think that refrigeration has become more important over the last five years?
It’s a critical infrastructure, it’s a vital infrastructure, and that’s becoming more and more clear. We need to build a sustainable cold chain infrastructure to reduce food waste, to make this food available to feed 950 million people in the world. And also with rising temperatures, comfort cooling is not a luxury – it’s vital.
We scientists are aware of this. Now policymakers are starting to understand it because they see food loss, increasing populations that they need to feed. And so they see the economic impact. But the general public is not aware. I hear my grandmother or my mother saying, “I’m going to the farmers’ market. I don’t want to buy vegetables from the supermarket.” And my parents are very well educated. They think it’s fresher. But they don’t know that from the moment produce is harvested, it loses up to 50% of its quality. So I’m sorry, it should be refrigerated, and this is why now there’s this new concept about installing pre-cooling at the farm from the moment of harvest to preserve it and keep the quality.
Also, when it comes to the market, the food or vegetables need to look nice. If it doesn’t meet this criterion, it’s not beautiful, they throw it out. So this is what you call food loss, but large parts of it is because of the lack of cold chains.
