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January 10, 2023
In October 2022, the United States Senate ratified the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an 1987 international treaty to protect the ozone layer, a critical shield protecting life on earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The Kigali Amendment, agreed to in 2016 by more than 170 countries, phases down the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases. HFCs were originally introduced as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which had been widely used in aerosols and as refrigerants until they were found to erode the ozone layer and phased out by the Montreal Protocol.
The Kigali Amendment represents a big step towards confronting the climate crisis; however, HFCs are just one of four main types of fluorinated gases, which also include perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). This article will explain what fluorinated gases are, how their harmful effects on the climate can be mitigated, and summarize what actions policymakers are currently taking in the United States and abroad.
In the 1970s, manufacturers and governments were faced with a problem. CFCs had been widely used as refrigerants, but posed a significant threat to the ozone layer. Without the ozone, the earth and humanity would be exposed to harmful ultraviolet radiation that can damage crops and cause skin cancers and cataracts. In 1987, the international community acted by signing the Montreal Protocol, which committed countries to begin a “step-based” phasedown of ozone-depleting substances, including chlorofluorocarbons. The protocol was ratified by the United States the following year. As countries began their phasedowns, a new refrigerant was needed to replace CFCs. This is where fluorinated gases come into the picture.
Fluorinated gases, or F-gases, are man-made substances typically classified into four main categories: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). HFCs—the most common F-gas—were developed to replace ozone-depleting CFCs as a refrigerant. They are used in air-conditioning, insulating foams, aerosol propellants, and in fire protection. The other F-gases are primarily used or emitted as part of manufacturing processes. SF6 is used in power grids to transfer electricity and is emitted as a byproduct of producing magnesium. PFCs are emitted when manufacturing aluminum. All four F-gases are considered essential for creating complex microchips. It is clear that F-gases are an integral part of the manufacturing process in a wide array of industrial sectors. However, while F-gases pose less of a threat to the ozone layer than CFCs, they present problems of their own.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “fluorinated greenhouse gases include the most potent and longest-lasting greenhouse gases emitted by human activity.” They can be thousands of times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2) and can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds or even thousands of years. For example, HFCs stay in the atmosphere for up to 270 years. PFCs, which are commonly released during the manufacturing of chemical solutions used in electronic parts, stay in the atmosphere for anywhere between 2,600 to 50,000 years. Below are a few key strategies to reduce F-gas emissions.
HFCs are often released when refrigerant canisters in air conditioning units leak. Research spanning back to the early 2000s suggests that leakage is even more of a concern for refrigerants used in a commercial setting. The Kigali Amendment and subsequent global phasedown of HFCs pushed companies such as Bacharach and Emerson to develop more sophisticated leak detection systems for commercial buyers. In Bacharach’s case, these detection systems can even monitor for phasedown compliance. The EPA, in partnership with Green Proving Ground, a program of the U.S. General Services Administration, has developed its own emission-monitoring tools and a bank of new methods to reduce HFC leaks.
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