Managing Refrigerants: Regulating our cooling machines to combat climate emergency
In a significant move towards addressing climate change, countries such as Bahrain, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have announced plans to freeze the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in cooling devices by 2028. This decision, part of a wider global effort, could potentially reduce 89.7 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making it the most impactful step, according to a study by Project Drawdown.
HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases used in current cooling devices like refrigerators and air conditioners, are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. With an estimated 1.4 billion refrigerators and freezers and approximately 1.6 billion air conditioning units worldwide, the environmental impact of these systems is a significant factor in the climate crisis.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, ratified in 2016, sets out a timeline for the phase-down of HFCs. Developed countries will reduce the production and consumption of HFCs from 2019, while much of the rest of the world will freeze the use of HFCs by 2024. Countries including China, Brazil, and South Africa have postponed their HFC phase-downs until 2045, while India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have until 2047 to reduce their HFC use by 85%.
However, the adoption of refrigerant management is not without its challenges. Weak regulations, lack of economic incentives, funding, training, technical, and informational barriers are some of the limitations highlighted in a recent study. Yet, there is a growing recognition of the need for new policies and regulations on refrigerant management to ensure successful implementation.
Emerging market-based solutions, such as those offered by companies like Phononic, are attempting to tackle the problems of refrigerants by relying on thermodynamic science instead of HFCs for cooling, resulting in energy-efficient devices without compressors. This shift towards more sustainable solutions could be a key strategy in tackling the climate crisis.
Strong regulations including a complete ban on venting of refrigerants must be introduced in national legislations to ensure compliance. Managing cooling devices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could be a critical component in the global fight against climate change, an aspect that has often been overlooked in ongoing debates on climate change policies.
As the number of cooling devices, including refrigerated trucks, warehouses, containers, medical appliances, and industrial devices, is expected to reach 14 billion by 2050, the urgency to address this issue cannot be overstated. The transition towards more sustainable cooling solutions is not only necessary but also promising, offering a pathway towards a greener and more climate-resilient future.
