The refrigerant used in ice hockey and curling venues in the Winter Olympic Games provides a 65% reduction in global warming potential, which helped hold "green" games.

An international Olympic Committee expert said that the two refrigeration systems are being used on nine ice shields in the seven new or renovated venues.

In order to make the Beijing Winter Games more environmentally friendly and sustainable, the Games' Organizing Committee had talks with refrigeration industry experts before selecting the two refrigeration systems currently being used.

US chemicals company Chemours is providing refrigerant for four ice sheets used at three venues to provide stable low-temperature conditions. 

The refrigerant is a hydro-fluoro olefin (HFO) blend that has zero ozone depletion potential (ODP), lower global warming potential, and high performance, the Global Times reported.

"Compared with hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants used previously, it enables around 65 percent reduction in GWP and up to 12 percent lower energy consumption," a director for the company providing the refrigeration said.

Five other ice shields that use CO2 refrigeration systems also have zero Ozone Depletion Potential and low global warming potential The refrigeration systems are 30% more energy efficient and save about 2 million kWh of electricity/year compared with traditional cooling methods.