HomeEnvironmentCutting down on the Hydrofluorocarbons can potentially help to cool the Earth

Cutting down on the Hydrofluorocarbons can potentially help to cool the Earth

A recent study says that to have a better chance of holding global warming to 1.5°C or below, the world needs to speed-up the reduction of HFC refrigerants. This could also substantially reduce pollution and improve energy access as well.

A new study led by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) researchers says that the hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) constitute a major part of the greenhouse gas. An air conditioner freshens and cools the atmosphere in our homes, but in a bid to do so, it is potentially deteriorating the Earth’s atmosphere. So is the case with other cooling solutions such as refrigerators and heat pumps.

The air conditioners we are using today, be of any type, depends on the chemicals called HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) for their cooling effect. Hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs are very strong greenhouse gases, but have been used over the time to replace the ozone-depleting substances (under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer), and their emissions have increased rapidly in the last two decades.

According to the study by IIASA researchers, that was published in the renowned journal ‘Nature Climate Change’, if we wish to achieve the Paris climate goals, the world will have to withdraw itself from using the hydrofluorocarbons as soon as possible. The added benefit of this action will be that it would substantially reduce the global power consumption figures, which will further aid in many benefits such as lower levels of pollution.

The hydrofluorocarbons can be replaced with multiple other gases that have comparably a much lower effects per kilogram, on the climate. The replacement agents can include in the likes of ammonia, Carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons such as propane. An international law has also required cutting down on the use of hydrofluorocarbons. In 2016, the matter of these chemicals was brought into the Montreal Protocol, a treaty that was originally set up to prohibit the use of ozone-depleting chemicals.

The 2016 Kigali Amendment of the protocol asks to cut the HFC for four groups of countries by the year 2047, which requires bringing down the consumption by around 80 to 85 percent, compared to the countries’ respective baselines. Now the issue is that the reduction in the use of HFC emissions falls years behind consumption. There are also chances that the HFCs can leak out of appliances during the manufacturing time, or when in use and also when the appliance is scrapped.

The recent study takes this lag into consideration and investigates how numerous HFC consumption scenarios would affect future emissions, where the IIASA Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model was used. The study has come up with the projection that, if left unrestrained, the HFC emissions from the year 2019 to the year 2050 would have amounted to more than 92 billion tons Carbon Dioxide equivalent.

hydrofluorocarbons
HFCs are man-made fluorinated greenhouse gases rapidly building up in the atmosphere. They are used as replacements for ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in air conditioning, refrigeration, foam-blowing, fire retardants, solvents, and aerosols.

According to the Kigali Amendment, the total should be about 32 billion tons.

The current ambitions for the reduction of HFC emissions are not adequate to meet the Paris Agreement of 1.5°C goal, says Pallav Purohit, who is the lead author on the study and a senior researcher in the Pollution Management Research Group of the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program. If countries act early, a more determined and progressive target under the Kigali Amendment can still help accomplish the Paris goal, Purohit added.

The authors tried to find various options to support for stronger HFC reductions. For example, what if all nations are asked to reach 95 percent emissions cuts by the year 2050, instead of the current 80 to 85 percent in 2047? This will barely reduce the cumulative emissions by 2050, but it will certainly bring down the emissions to a lower level for the rest of the century, which is more in line with 1.5°C layout.

The most effective option will involve that all countries not only hit 95 percent mark by the year 2050, but also make ramped up deep cuts before that. This will effectively lead to the 2050 cumulative emissions of less than 24 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide equivalent, which is much closer to the 1.5°C climate scenario.

Also, this early action would be a great opportunity to replace the old cooling appliances and equipments with more efficient equipments. This could end up saving up to 20 percent of the expected future global electricity consumption, which would double up the climate benefits of the HFC emission reduction, reduce air pollution, improve energy access and cut consumer energy bills.

Falling back on the Montreal Protocol’s Start-and-Strengthen approach, hastened HFC reduction would increase the chances of the temperature rise staying below 1.5°C, Purohit concludes.

Journal Reference: Purohit, P., Borgford-Parnell, N., Klimont, Z., and Höglund-Isaksson, L. Achieving Paris climate goals calls for increasing ambition of the Kigali Amendment. Nature Climate Change, 2022 DOI: 10.1038/s41558-022-01310-y

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