This paper describes the development of an efficient air-conditioning and refrigeration system based on a combination of an absorption machine with a vapour recompression system. The new system will be ＇＇environmentally-friendly＇＇ (avoids use of CFCs) and would be driven by a gas-engine with the possibility of waste-heat recovery from the engine. The system has been analysed thermodynamically using the working fluid pairs H2O/LiBr and CH3OH/LiBr-ZnBr2.