A2L refrigerants – myths and realities (pt 1)
The air conditioning industry is facing a huge step-change in the next few years.
From 2015, the EU is reducing CO2 emissions that are directly produced from the manufacture of refrigerants (it seems that we have given up on trying to prevent leaks). In previous years we have seen CFCs and HCFCs banned completely. The new regulations encourage innovations by capping the potential CO2 emissions in stages between 2015 and 2030.
CO2 emissions from refrigerants are directly related to global warming potential (GWP). Every refrigerant has a GWP number. The higher the number, the higher the CO2 emissions, the more effect that any product leaked to atmosphere has on the environment.
By assembling data from all refrigerant producers, importers etc between 2009 and 2012, the EU has imposed a baseline CO2 figure of 183 million tonnes of consumption …