04 February 2026
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A new study from natural refrigerant market accelerator ATMOsphere explores how natural refrigerants and refrigerant-free technologies are beginning to disrupt the rapidly expanding global data centre sector.
Key insights from Clean Cooling for Data Centers 2025 include:
- The emergence of natural refrigerant chillers in data centre cooling
- How waste heat recovery and high-temperature heat pumps (in some instances using hydrocarbons) are expanding the definition of data centre energy efficiency
- The role of ultra-efficient heat rejection equipment in enabling free cooling and reducing water use
- Why natural refrigerants currently occupy a small niche and and what’s needed to scale adoption
“This report is not just a first for ATMOsphere but a first for the data centre sector,” said Michael Hines, the report’s lead author. “This is the first report to focus strictly on clean cooling in data centres, and it provides valuable insights into the state of natural refrigerants in the industry.”
The report is based on interviews with nine manufacturers deploying these technologies, Alfa Laval, BAC, Carel, Fenagy, Jaeggi, Kelvion, Secon, SWEP and Zudek, alongside ATMOsphere research conducted across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East throughout 2025.
The report can be downloaded for free here.
