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BALI phase-out of HFC chemicals in chiller cabinets and cars will prevent the release of massive quantities of global warming gases, says EIA.

© Ezra Clark / EIA

LONDON AND BALI, 3rd December 2007: The Environmental Investigation Agency today calls on the world community and parties to the climate change conference in Bali to agree to an urgent phase-out of a class of global warming gases whose worldwide use is rapidly growing: HFCs.

HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) are man-made fluorinated gases (‘F-gases’) widely used in vehicle air conditioning, supermarket chiller cabinets, fridges and domestic and business air-conditioning units throughout the world.

HFCs are increasingly produced and consumed as a replacement for banned ozone-depleting CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), and other classes of environmentally-damaging man-made gases.

A decisive Move

But in “Facing the F-Gas Challenge: The Need for a Global Phase-out of HFCs”, EIA points out that HFCs are themselves powerful global warming gases, with enormous global warming potential over a span of many years, and their use is set to grow dramatically.

Banning them now, and using climate-neutral alternatives, says EIA, would save the equivalent of hundreds of billions of tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere in the next 50 years.

"The high global warming potential [of HFCs] signifies that sooner or later, their use will not be acceptable on any industrial scale," EIA says.

"A decisive move at the Bali climate conference to prevent the proliferation of these environmentally damaging chemicals will yield enormous climate benefits."

The biggest source of HFC emissions into the atmosphere is vehicle air-conditioning units, almost all of which are manufactured to use a class of HFC chemical, HFC-134a. Commercial refrigeration, including shop, restaurant and hotel chiller cabinets, accounts for the second largest source of HFC emissions. Part of the reason for this is the high leakage rates from installed equipment, estimated at up to 30 per cent annually.

Alternatives already available

Stationary air conditioning, domestic and industrial refrigeration and the manufacture of expanded plastics, such as expanded polystyrene for packaging, are also sources of HFC emissions.

EIA points out that in every case, climate neutral alternatives are already available. European Union regulations will ban the most potent HFCs from vehicles by 2017, and climate-neutral alternatives like hydrocarbons and CO2 are already used in countries such as Australia and Germany. EIA says the rest of the world needs to follow suit.

Coca-Cola, Unilever, Schweppes have already pledged to phase out HFC use in refrigeration equipment, and together with other companies have joined an alliance with NGOs and the United Nations Environment Programme to eliminate global warming gases.

Ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO2 are already being developed and used as alternatives to HFCs, but EIA says they need to be adopted on a much wider scale.

In 2005, global production of HCFCs was estimated at 280,000 metric tonnes, with production in developing country rising dramatically. Producers of HFCs are investing heavily in HFC production following the banning of CFCs and the recent decision to phase out the HCFC group of chemicals.

With economic growth and increasing demand for air conditioning and refrigeration outside Europe and North America, production is expected to shift towards developing countries. By 2015, China is predicted to be the most important refrigerant market in the world.

Facing the F-Gas challenge, can be downloaded from: www.eia-international.org/campaigns/global_environment/reports/

For further information please contact:
Fionnuala Walravens, Campaigner, EIA UK
fionnualawalravens@eia-international.org
Can be reached in Bali on +62 (0)8133 8979352

Clare Perry, Senior Campaigner, EIA UK
Clareperry@eia-international.org
+34 678064420 (office – Spain)

Sascha von Bismarck, Campaigns Director, EIA USA
saschavonbismarck@eia-international.org
+1 202 483 6621 (office) +1 301 706 2275 (mobile)


Stuart Coles, Press Officer, EIA UK
stuartcoles@eia-international.org
+44 (0) 20 7354 7984 (office) or +44 (0) 7988 543221 (mobile)

For footage and still pictures please contact:
Ingvild Holm, Visual Resource Coordinator, EIA UK
+44 (0) 20 7354 7968 (office) or +44 (0) 7984681223 (mobile)
ingvildholm@eia-international.org

Notes for Editors
• The most commonly used HFC is HFC-134a, which has a global warming potential (GWP) 3,830 times higher than carbon dioxide over a twenty year period.
• The Kyoto Protocol on climate change has been agreed by 169 nations which have undertaken to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and certain other greenhouse gases including HFCs and other F-gases.
• The Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances (ODS) was agreed on September 16th, 1987 and came into force on January 1st 1989, and is now ratified by 191 countries. It seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate ozone-depleting substances through the development of alternative substances and manufacturing processes. The Montreal Protocol regulates HCFCs, which are also greenhouse gases.
• A mismatch between the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols has allowed rapid unchecked growth of HCFCs in developing countries, especially China. HFC-23, an unwanted by-product of HCFC-22 production, is one of the most abundant HFCs in the atmosphere and its concentration there is steadily rising. The CDM allows HCFC-22 facilities that capture and destroy their by-product emissions of HFC-23 to earn Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) that can be sold at significant profit on the global carbon market. This has created a perverse incentive to expand HCFC-22 production, since the profit from selling the CERs is much higher than the cost of capturing and destroying the HFC-23 emissions - in some cases higher than the sales revenue of the HCFC-22. The GWPs of HCFC-22 and HFC-23 over 100 year time period are 1,810 and 14,760 respectively.
• The Environmental Investigation Agency is a non-profit NGO based in London and Washington, D.C. that is committed to investigating and exposing environmental crime, and to promoting lasting solutions. EIA has been actively tracking the global illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances (ODS) since the mid-1990s to provide information to the Montreal Protocol and other relevant bodies, as well as to training and regional cooperation workshops. www.eia-international.org.

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