Today, 18 November 2008, hydrocarbons21.com was officially launched as the world’s only online source to exclusively promote hydrocarbons (HCs) as refrigerants in domestic and commercial refrigeration, air conditioning, water cooling, heating or vehicle climate systems. Its main objective will be to spur the use of HCs, including propane, isobutane or propylene through regular news, a collection of scientific papers, and a dedicated products & services section.

The platform, however, will be more than just a way to advertise Hydrocarbons (HC) technology. Rather it is an interactive tool that will help you stay connected with the global HC community and be involved in forum discussions, groups, and other B2B networking opportunities.

“For months now the hydrocarbon industry has been asking us to develop a dedicated platform. Well, today we meet that market need and we are very proud of this new platform,” says Marc Chasserot, Managing Director, Shecco.

What you can expect

hydrocarbons21.com is currently running as a Beta test version and will be fully functional from January 2009 on. Latest by then, it will offer you the following services:

• News: A daily update on recent developments affecting the use of HCs worldwide.
• Products & Services: A database of refrigerants, components, systems & engineering services providers in the field of hydrocarbon refrigeration & cooling.
• Forum & Groups: Interactive tools to facilitate knowledge-sharing between HC experts, exchange best practice, schedule meetings, upload files, and work on joint projects.
• My HC21.com: Your personal gateway to the world of hydrocarbon refrigerants. Invite, discuss, share, connect ….simply interact!
• B2B Networking: An open members database to find HC project partners, customers, suppliers, researchers and employers worldwide.
• Events: A list of conferences, meetings, and trade fairs of relevance for the HC refrigeration industry.
• Knowledge: The first online collection of papers, studies, presentations, standards and articles dedicated exclusively to hydrocarbon refrigerants.
• Jobs: New openings for engineers, academics, and marketers.

A series of platforms on Natural Refrigerants

hydrocarbons21.com is the second platform dedicated to a specific natural refrigerant which is managed by Shecco, a Marketing & Communications consultancy helping companies worldwide to bring climate friendly solutions faster to market. It builds on the success of R744.com, a portal promoting the natural refrigerant CO₂ which was launched two years ago and since then has established itself as THE information hub for CO₂ Technology.

Facing the industry’s rising need for one global reference source on hydrocarbon refrigerants technology, Shecco decided to launch today’s platform with the support of pioneering companies in the field of HC technology. The website’s tagline - “Everything Natural” - reflects hydrocarbon’s refrigerants main features: sustainable, natural solutions able to replace chemical alternatives with unknown impacts on the environment and human health. Over the coming months, Shecco will launch other platforms to complete its series on natural refrigerants.