FORON, a firm formerly called DKK Scharfenstein based in eastern Germany, was on the brink of bankruptcy last year after reunification when Greenpeace, an international environment group, gave it orders for 10 prototypes of refrigerators that use eco-friendly chemicals as coolants.

FORON turned out a prototype that uses a mixture of propane and butane as the refrigerant. A similar technology was used before CFCs edged it out some 40 years ago. Greenpeace Germany advertised the fridge, called Greenfreeze, and in a matter of weeks, orders for 65,000 fridges came in. From March to September this year, FORON sold 100,000 Greenfreezes.

Greenfreeze has had a major impact and all German refrigerator companies are changing to eco-friendly chemicals after having intitially dismissed the idea. The success of Greenfreeze forced several larger refrigerator manufacturers in Europe such as Siemens, Bosch, Miele and Liebherr to develop hydrocarbon-cooled fridges.

It is estimated that green fridges now constitute around 20 per cent of the total number of fridges sold in Germany. Hydrocarbon fridges such as Greenfreeze are now on sale in the UK, the Netherlands and Austria. They are also spreading to the rest of Europe, Japan and Australia.

All hydrocarbon fridges on sale in Europe have energy efficiency equal to or greater than the refrigerators using CFCs. And, they are not more expensive than the earlier models.

Now, FORON and these firms are willing to enter into cooperation with refrigeration companies from other parts of the world, offering them technology transfer and conversion of existing facilities to take to the eco-friendly technology. Greenpeace is promoting green fridges in the developing world, especially China and India, which are the biggest markets.

Several Indian industry representatives are collaborating with FORON and have sent their machines to Germany to be tested with the new coolant and monitored there. Manufacturers have also visited the FORON plant and seen how the inflammable hydrocarbons are handled at the plant. Chinese delegations have also visited Germany to look at the eco-friendly fridges.

The success of Greenfreeze has inspired Greenpeace to appeal to Germans to now go in for an "Eco Car", which will cover 50 km in a litre of fuel.