Brief: IOR's Anniversary

Over 900 persons attended the UK Institute of Refrigeration (IOR)'s 106th Anniversary Dinner which was held on February 8, 2006 at Grosvenour House Hotel, London, appropriately in the ballroom, a former ice skating rink. In his speech, the President, Dr Guy Hundy, focused on energy "This year the UK becomes an importer of natural gas while nuclear generation is being run down. My personal view is that future generations will look back at the 20th century as one in which cheap fuel was built into the assumptions on which our infrastructure was based. I personally believe that the present high fuel prices are probably the best thing to have happened… A whole range of alternative technologies which at oil prices of USD 20 a barrel did not make economic sense suddenly start to become viable at prices of USD 50 or 60 a barrel... Why should this concern refrigeration engineers? We can be sure that whatever the solution, more energy is going to be delivered as electricity, we are already starting to see heat pumps in refurbishment schemes for community housing, and other technologies such as CHP and enhanced absorption systems are likely to have a role to play. The world of energy is changing; prices are going to continue to rise, and the rewards could be large for those with the foresight to develop and invest in new technologies". Dr Hundy also presented the IOR's J&E Hall Gold Medal, Ted Perry Award, Lightfoot Medal and Service Engineer Awards. Susan Phalippou represented the IIR at this prestigious event.