EIA applauds California’s HFC reduction incentives
Green group the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has applauded California for allocating $1m in incentives to reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases, including HFC refrigerants.
The finance is part of the $214.8bn budget for 2019-2020 approved by California’s legislature yesterday.
The programme, established by last year’s California Cooling Act, will incentivise adoption of climate-friendly refrigerant technologies, with a mandate to also consider other co-benefits such as energy efficiency and opportunities for increasing recovery, reclamation, and destruction of refrigerants at end-of-life.
Applauding California for following through on the California Cooling Act, EIA climate policy analyst Christina Starr said: “This is an opportunity to launch a transformative programme that can accelerate adoption of the most climate-friendly cooling technologies available. It can also help increase energy efficiency, and encourage better management and disposal of HFCs. If implemented at scale, it promises to have a big impact.”
Describing it as another fine example of California’s leadership and commitment to tackling HFCs in cooling, climate campaign lead Avipsa Mahapatra added: “We hope other states committed to phasing down super-pollutant HFCs will see this innovative programme as an example for raising the bar on sub-national climate action in the US.”