The Pivotality of Choice
In the early 90’s, environmental organization Greenpeace, together with Foron, a German manufacturer of household appliances, developed a revolutionary cooling technology called Greenfreeze. This technology used hydrocarbons for the purpose of cooling in refrigerators, instead of potent fluorinated gases that deplete ozone and contribute to climate change.
The potential was huge, and the timing was perfect. Economic growth was fueling consumer demand globally and there was a growing sense of awareness on the dangers of ozone layer depletion.
Such was the overwhelming response to this new technology that after a brief marketing campaign, the team received 70,000 orders for a yet-to-be-manufactured refrigerator in a matter of weeks.
Source: Greenpeace.org
Conventional wisdom would have dictated that the team begin frantic manufacturing of the new refrigerators, market themselves unabashedly and eventually scale themselves to potentially becoming a profit maximizing monopoly.
How would that have looked?
A disruptive climate-friendly cooling technology is developed. Demand for refrigerators using the new technology rises. Company profits skyrocket. High prices and limited availability prevent mass consumption. Industry dynamics are affected but transformative shifts are negligible. Environmental benefits are compromised.
What the team instead decided to do was to waive the patent and open source the technology such that it could be used free of cost by appliance manufacturers across the world.
How did that play out?
A disruptive climate-friendly cooling technology is developed. The founders decide to open source it. Multiple appliance manufacturers across the world start using the new technology, fostering mass consumption. Unlikely and unheard-of alliances are formed between corporate giants like Coca Cola, Unilever to share open-source notes to improve the technology. New industry standards are set.
The cooling industry undergoes transformation.
Source: Benjerry.com
It does not end here. Recognizing the environmental benefits of alternative natural refrigerant technology, government agencies start supporting research of natural coolants and their wider applications, legislations for major regulatory changes are passed, global protocols for substituting the use of fluorinated gases are set and funding is committed to phase out greenhouse gases.
It is now a global movement.
Source: Greenpeace.org
What struck me the most in how this played out is the pivotality of the choice made. Greenpeace and Foron could have chosen market dominance. But they chose to create “impact in billions over revenues in billions”, a decision that was pivotal to the transformation of the cooling industry and making natural coolants one of the most viable global climate solutions.
Today, Greenfreeze technology is present in nearly a billion refrigerators worldwide and as a result has avoided millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that by 2050, refrigerant management can potentially reduce 89.7 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions.
And it all started with Greenpeace making a “choice”.
